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J.B,  Devine 
On  the  Way  to  Hwai  Yuen 


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PRINCETON  .  NEW  JERSEY 

FROM  THE  LIBRARY  OF 
ROBERT  ELLIOTT  SPEER 


BWB351 


APR  i  0  1959 


"^^OGKAl   S' 


ON  THE  WAY 
HWAI  YUEN: 

OR  THE  STORY  OF 

A  MULE  RIDE  IN  CHINA 


Visiting    the    Presbyterian    Mission    in    the    An-Hui    Province 

carried  on  under  the  direction  of  the  Foreign  Board, 

by  the  Central   Presbyterian  Church  of 

New  Yorit  City 

With  a  Foreword   by  the 

REV.  WILTON  MERLE  SMITH,  D.  D., 

the  Pastor  of  the  Central  Church 


BY  y^ 

JOHN  Bancroft  Devins 

AUTHOR  OF 
"AN  OBSERVER  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES" 


PUBLISHED  BY  THE  NEW  YORK  OBSERVER 
19  0  5 


A 


To  be  obtained  from 

The  New  York  Observer, 

156  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York, 

Price,  single  copies,  twenty-five  cents; 

Five  copies  one  dollar; 

One  hundred  copies  seventeen  dollars. 

Postage  prepaid. 


Copyright,  1905,  hy 
John  Bancroft  Devins 


FOREWORD 


Rev.  Wilton  Merle  Smith,  D.  D. 
Pastor  of  the  Central  Church 

HEROISM  AND  CONSECRATION 


^  I  ^HE  movement  in  the  Central  Presbyterian 
Church  to  support  its  own  missionaries  be- 
gan in  1894,  when  a  young  missionary  was  sent  by 
the  Church  to  Hyden,  Kentucky,  a  place  in  the 
mountains  sixty  miles  from  a  railroad ;  in  a  country 
which  did  not  at  that  time  have  a  single  church  with 
a  settled  pastor.  The  work  there  has  increased  so 
much  in  ten  years  that  the  Church  is  now  supporting 
seven  missionaries  there.  There  is  a  church  and 
academy  building,  a  parsonage,  and  a  girls'  dor- 
mitory— property  now  valued  at  $10,000.  There  are 
five  out  stations  where  the  pastor  and  his  assistant 
preach.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  this  church 
and  school  have  had  great  influence  in  lifting  this 


entire  community.  Most  of  the  district  schools 
through  the  country,  some  fifty  in  number,  have  as 
teachers  students  educated  and  Christianized  in  the 
Academy  of  Hyden. 

In  1895  the  Church  sent  the  Rev.  C.  O.  Gill  and  his 
wife  to  Peking.  After  a  year  they  were  compelled 
to  return  on  account  of  illness.  Then  in  1898  the 
Church  resolved  to  support  a  mission  station  in  Cen- 
tral China.  Rev.  E.  C.  Lobenstine,  Rev.  Du  Bois  S. 
Morris  and  Miss  Rose  Lobenstine  sailed  for  China  in 
September.  The  next  year  Dr.  Samuel  Cochran  and 
the  Rev.  James  B.  Cochran  and  their  wives  joined 
them  in  Nanking,  where  they  were  learning  the  lan- 
guage and  preparing  for  their  work.  In  October, 
1901,  Hwai  Yuen  was  chosen  as  our  station.  Miss 
Holtman,  a  trained  nurse,  joined  our  band  in  1902. 
She  has  since  married  Mr.  Lobenstine.  Hence  there 
are  at  present  eight  missionaries  in  our  station. 
Property  has  been  bought  for  a  residence  to  be  built 
at  once.  Other  property  is  soon  to  be  acquired.  A 
hospital  has  been  promised.  The  missionaries  are 
now  living  in  rented  Chinese  houses. 

The  results  are  already  beginning  to  appear.  En- 
quirers are  numerous  and  through  the  great  skill  of 
Dr.  Cochran  the  medical  side  of  the  work  has  made 
many  friends  among  people  of  high  and  low  station 
alike. 

The  following  is  the  list  of  the  Central  Church 
missionaries : 

Hyden,  Kentucky — 

Rev.  and  Mrs.  T.  Judson  Miles  (1901). 
Rev.  George  Moore  (1905). 
Miss  Blanche  M.  Shaw   (1904). 
Miss  Mary  E.  Wiley  (1904). 
Miss  Fannie  C.   Penland   (1904). 
Miss  D.  Bradshaw  (1905). 
4 


Hwai  Yuen,  An  Hui  Proiince,   China — 

Rev.  and  Mrs.  Edwin  C.  Lobenstine  (1898  and  1902). 

Rev.  Du  Bois  S.  Morris  (1898). 

Rev.  and  Mrs.  James  B.  Cochran  (1899). 

Dr.  and  Mrs.  Samuel  Cochran  (1899). 

Miss  Rose  Lobenstine  (1898). 

Haiti  art,  Cliina — 

Miss  Henrietta  Montgomery. 

(Maintained  by  Women's  Missionary  Society.) 

Constant  letters  from  the  missionaries,  with  kodak 
pictures  of  their  homes  and  the  scenes  about  them, 
which  are  often  thrown  upon  the  screen,  keep  the 
interest  always  alive  in  the  Central  Church.  Al- 
though this  work  of  supporting  two  mission  stations, 
one  in  the  Home  and  one  in  the  Foreign  Field,  is  ex- 
pensive, running  far  into  the  thousands  every  year, 
yet  it  ought  to  be  stated  that  the  Church  still  gives 
its  annual  offering  each  year  to  the  general  work  of 
the  Home  and  Foreign  Boards,  and  this  year  the  of- 
ferings were  a  large  increase  over  those  in  former 
years.  The  Central  Church  believes  thoroughly  in 
this  plan  of  a  church  supporting  its  own  mission- 
aries. A  great  wealth  of  prayer  and  sympathy  goes 
out  toward  them  from  the  Church  at  home,  and  the 
reflex  influence  is  most  marked,  leading  the  Chris- 
tians here  to  put  their  lives  on  the  basis  of  foreign 
missionary  heroism  and  consecration. 

Wilton  INIerle  Smith. 

Central  Church  Study, 

Nezv  York,  May  i,  ipo^. 


CHAPTER     I 

Why  the  Journey  Was  Taken 

44AT7HEN  I  reach  China,"  said  the  writer  to  Dr. 
^^^  Wilton  Merie  Smith,  of  the  Central 
Church  of  New  York,  as  he  began  his  trip  to  the  mis- 
sion fields  of  Asia,  "I  hope  to  visit  your  workers  in 
Hwai  Yuen." 


Rev.  and  ^[rs.  James  B.  Cochran 

Rev.  E.  C.  Lobenstine,  Miss  Lobenstine, 

Rev.  Du  Bois  S.  Morris 

Dr.  and  Mr.s.  Samuel  Cochran 


''Brother  John,  if  you  do  that  you  will  do  those 
brave,  consecrated  people  a  world  of  good.  But  it  is 
a  long  way  back  from  the  coast,  and  the  people  have 
to  travel  in  houseboats,  and  it  takes  a  long  time,  and 


few  travelers  get  so  far  off  the  beaten  tracks.  If  you 
ever  get  there  give  them  my  love ;  they  are  the  best 
company  of  people  on  this  earth." 

''I  will  tell  them  that  you  said  so." 

On  the  General  Assembly  train  across  the  con- 
tinent, in  conversation  with  an  elder  from  the  Boon- 
ton,  N.  J.,  Church,  I  said,  "Mr.  Jenkins,  I  hope  to 
'Visit  Hwai  Yuen  when  I  go  to  China." 

"If  you  ever  get  to  that  far-away  place,  give  my 
love  to  Mrs.  James  Cochran,  for  she  is  my  daughter." 

"No  distance  is  too  great,  and  no  journey  too  hard 
for  one  who  is  the  bearer  of  such  a  message." 

"Where  is  your  field  ?"  was  the  innocent  question 
asked  of  a  young  woman  from  China,  who  was  met 
in  Japan. 

"Our  mission  is  the  oldest  of  our  Board  in  China." 

"And  may  I  ask  how  you  reach  it  from  Shanghai  ?" 
The  directions  were  given  in  a  courteous  manner,  but 
not  with  that  warmth  of  feeling  that  had  been  char- 
acteristic of  the  speaker  a  few^  moments  earlier.  At 
the  annual  meeting  of  the  Central  China  Mission  the 
coolness  was  explained : 

"There  is  an  editor  from  New  York  traveling 
around  the  world,  and  what  do  you  think !  He  act- 
ually didn't  know  how  to  reach  the  oldest  Presby- 
terian station  in  China.  But  he  knew  all  about  Hwai 
Yuen.  He  knows  just  how  to  get  there,  and  who  the 
missionaries  are  and  all  about  them.  Now  what  do 
you  think  of  that!  You  will  probably  see  him,  but 
we  in  Ningpo  will  be  passed  by !"  When  the  visit  to 
Ningpo  was  made  a  month  later,  all  was  forgiven, 
even  the  dense  — almost  crass — ignorance,  which  had 
been  confessed  by  the  writer  at  one  time. 

Hwai  Yuen,  pronounced  as  if  composed  of  the 
three  letters  Y.  U.  N.,  would  be  a  hundred  and  fifty 

8 


miles  northwest  of  Nanking,  on  a  direct  road,  but  di- 
rectness is  not  a  virtue  that  characterizes  the  makers 
of  streets  and  roads  and  trails  and  paths  in  China. 
The  distance  b}  land,  therefore,  is  somewhat  prob- 
lematical. 

The  length  of  the  water  trip  from  Nanking  which 
had  always  been  taken  by  the  ladies  of  the  Mission, 
and  usually  by  the  gentlemen,  is  wholly  problem- 
atical ;  the  question  of  distance  is  eliminated — ''How 
long  will  it  take  ?"  is  the  only  query.  The  answer  is 
never  made  with  any  degree  of  confidence  : 

"Two  weeks,  four  weeks,  or  six  weeks — it  all  de- 
pends upon  the  load  the  boat  carries,  the  condition 
of  the  canal  at  the  time — whether  or  no  there  is  a 
block — the  depth  of  water  in  the  lake  and  the  force 
and  direction  of  the  wind." 

If  I  went  by  water  from  one  to  two  months  would 
be  taken  out  of  the  year,  not  in  visiting  mission  fields, 
but  in  a  houseboat  going  and  returning ;  if  I  went 
overland — there  were  the  Chinese  inns  with  their 
native  food,  the  native  animals  to  ride  by  day  and 
others  to  elude  by  night,  and  other  perils,  but  bearing 
the  love  of  a  devoted  father  and  one  of  the  best  pas- 
tors in  the  world,  the  journey  must  be  undertaken 
and  would  be  taken  in  safety ;  of  that  the  bearer  had 
no  doubt — an  angel  might  have  been  more  fearful. 

Leaving  Mrs.  Devins  in  Peking,  I  went  to  Shang- 
hai, and  taking  passage  on  a  Yangtse  River  boat,  I 
reached  Nanking  early  one  morning-.  I  had  not  told 
any  one  in  that  city  I  was  coming,  for  knowing  some- 
thing of  the  unselfish  nature  of  missionaries,  I  was 
sure  that  one  of  them  w^ould  be  at  the  steamer  to  meet 
me,  using  strength  that  was  needed  for  the  work  for 
which  the  missionaries  have  left  home  and  loved  ones. 

At  the  same  time  it  is  a  bit  drearv  ( shall  I  confess 


it?)  to  be  dropped  off  a  river  steamer  in  a  Chinese 
town  at  I  A.  .M.,  without  knowing  a  word  of  the  lan- 
guage of  the  people  among  whom  you  drop,  espe- 
cially when  they  have' words  and  to  spare.  But  just 
ahead  is  Nanking  and  its  earnest  workers,  and  be- 
yond that  city  is  Hwai  Yuen  and  its  band  of  eight 
devoted  workers  whom  no  American  traveler  has 
ever  visited  in  their  far-away  station,  and  beyond 
them  still  is  Dr.  Smith's  query,  sure  to  come : 

"Brother  John,  did  you  see  the  bravest  and  best 
lot  of  missionaries  in  China?"  I  could  never  return 
to  New  York  and  say  "No"  to  that  question. 

Thoughts  like  these  helped  to  make  the  landing  at 
Nanking  less  dreary,  and  the  walk  to  the  Chinese 
hotel  less  monotonous.  At  the  hotel — that  term  is 
used  by  courtesy — I  untied  my  bundle  of  bedding, 
spread  it  on  the  bedstead  and  prepared  to  lie  down 
for  two  or  three  hours.  Just  then  a  Chinaman, 
whom  I  had  not  seen  before,  came  into  my  room  to 
talk  to  me.  He  knew  a  few  words  of  English  and 
his  sleep  had  been  disturbed  because  of  that  fact.  A 
brief  conversation  followed  and  then  three  hours  of 
sleep.  After  a  fairly  good  breakfast,  I  started  out  for 
the  Presbyterian  compound,  seven  or  eight  miles 
away.  It  took  the  combined  efforts  of  the  Chinaman, 
who  could  be  understood  somewhat,  and  a  half  dozen 
of  his  countrymen  who  could  not  be  understood  at  all, 
to  get  me  oft' ;  but  I  blamed  no  one.  It  was  the  fault 
of  my  early  education  ;  I  should  have  studied  Chinese 
instead  of  Hebrew,  or  rather  have  learned  both. 

All  of  the  missionaries  in  Nanking — the  Leamans, 
the  Drummonds,  the  Williamses,  Mrs.  Abbey  and 
Miss  Dresser  of  the  Presbyterian  Board,  as  well  as 
Methodists  and  Disciples — w^ere  deeply  interested  in 
the  proposed  trip  to  Hwai  Yuen.    A  good  Methodist 

10 


brother  furnished  his  saddle  and  bridle;  another 
tried  to  get  animals — horses,  mules  or  donkeys ; 
while  Mr.  Leaman  secured  a  "boy"  to  accompany  me  ; 
and,  not  least,  another  dear  soul,  ^Irs.  Drummond, 
filled  a  large  proyision  basket  full  of  good  things. 
Without  that  basket  of  food  and  other  necessary 
comforts  in  a  wonderful  itinerating  box  which  she 
provided,  I  fear  that  a  widow  would  have  come  back 
from  China  and  a  new  editor  would  have  been 
needed  in  New  York. 

It  was  planned  that  I  should  start  early  Monday 
morning  in  order  to  reach  Hwai  Yuen  by  Friday 
night.  But  it  was  three  o'clock  that  afternoon  be- 
fore I  was  ofif  and  then  I  had  no  animals.  The  wily 
horse  dealers  knew  that  I  wanted  to  go  very  badly, 
and  they  raised  the  price  and  talked  of  my  weight, 
and  criticised  the  size  of  my  bundles. 

At  last  I  started  with  my  boy,  whom  I  called  Li, 
because  that  was  easier  to  remember  than  the  heathen 
name  which  his  mother  gave  him,  and  a  servant  of 
Mr.  Drummond's,  who  was  to  pilot  me  over  the  river 
that  I  might  secure  animals  at  Pu  Ko.  I  had  hoped 
to  get  an  English-speaking  Chinaman  to  accompany 
me  during  the  fortnight,  but  none  being  available,  I 
set  out  with  one  who  knew  as  little  English  as  I  did 
Chinese.  Two  or  three  of  the  Nanking  missionaries 
wanted  to  go  with  me,  feeling  that  it  was  unwise,  if 
not  unsafe,  for  me  to  take  the  trip  alone.  But,  while 
very  grateful,  their  kind  offer  was  declined;  mis- 
sionaries should  not  be  used  as  guides  or  interpreters 
on  shopping  excursions  by  travelers.  It  is  bad 
enough  when  one  uses  them  as  much  as  the  writer 
did,  and  as  much  as  he  was  obliged  to  do  in  order  to 
start  for  Hwai  Yuen. 

Mr.  Drummond  accompanied  me  a  part  of  the  way 


to  the  river  in  order  to  change  ^Mexican  dollars  for 
other  silver  dollars  which  would  be  taken  in  the  in- 
terior of  the  country.  As  I  had  then  two  other  kinds 
of  silver  dollars  with  me,  one  current  in  Shanghai, 
and  the  other  which  I  had  received  in  change  bearing 
the  Singapore  stamp,  and  had  also  many  strings  of 
copper  cash,  I  realized  the  need  of  a  reform  in 
Chinese  currency. 


"All  the  world  round,  you  may  find  wells  whose  water  you 
could  not  say  was  different  from  zvhat  you  daily  use;  at  any 
rate  it  quenches  your  thirst  as  zvcll.  You  could  not  tell  what 
country  you  were  in,  nor  what  age,  by  the  taste  of  the  water 
from  a  living  zvell.  And  so,  zvhat  God  has  provided  for  our 
spiritual  life  bears  in  it  no  peculiarities  of  time  or  place; 
it  addresses  itself  zvith  equal  pozver  to  the  European  of  to- 
day, as  it  did  to  the  Asiatic  during  our  Lord's  own  lifetime. 
Men  have  settled  dozvn  by  hundreds  and  by  -fifties,  they  are 
grouped  according  to  various  natures  and  tastes,  but  to  all 
alike  is  this  one  food  presented.  And  this,  because  the  want 
it  supplies  is  not  fictitious,  but  as  natural  and  veritable  a 
want,  as  is  indicated  by  hunger  or  thirst." 


CHAPTER  II 

On  the  Yangtse  River  at  Night 

T X7HEN  Li,  my  ''boy,"  Mr.  Drummond's  servant, 
^^  and  I  reached  the  landing  station  at  Nan- 
king, we  were  met  by  the  Rev.  John  E.  Williams, 
the  representative  of  the  West  End  Presbyterian 
Church  of  New  York,  who  kindly  helped  to  get  the 


Missionaries  Stopped  on  Grand  Canal 


party  started  across  the  Yangtse  River.  Simple  as 
one  would  think  such  an  undertaking  should  be,  it 
was  by  no  means  as  easy  as  it  would  be  in  a  Western 
town.  The  price  asked  did  not  seem  extravagant  to 
me,  but  there  is  always  the  danger  of  a  precedent 
beins:  established,  which  mav  embarrass  the  foreig^n 
residents  later. 

Finallv  :\Ir.  Williams  was  obliged  to  start  for  home 


and  my  last  link  with  civilization  was  severed.  He 
was  anxious  to  go  to  Hwai  Yuen  with  me,  but  that 
was  not  to  be  t1iouo,ht  of.  I  sat  calmly — as  calmly  as  I 
could — while  the  servant  and  the  boatmen  came  to 
an  understanding' ;  perhaps  it  was  easier  to  be  silent 
since  I  had  nothing-  to  ofifer  in  the  way  of  an  explana- 
tion— a  shake  of  the  head, a  shrug  of  the  shoulder, an 
elevation  of  the  eyebrow,  an  extension  of  the  hand, 
palm  up,  even  a  frown  or  a  smile  has  its  proper  use 
when  unknown  tongues  are  in  active  service,  but 
usually  one  would  better  employ  only  the  last  aid 
mentioned  and  smile,  but  not  too  expansively,  lest  the 
motive  be  misunderstood. 

The  sun  has  gone  down  before  the  boat  has  been 
made  ready,  and  soon  we  were  on  the  Yangtse  in  a 
boat  that  may  have  been  in  use  in  China  in  the  first 
Christian  century.  To  say  that  I  was  wholly  at  ease 
would  be  to  stretch  the  truth  a  little.  Crossing  a 
river  two  miles  wide,  a  hundred  fathoms  deep,  and 
flowing  four  miles  an  hour,  is  not  calculated  to  in- 
spire courage ;  especially  when  the  trip  is  made  after 
dark  in  a  rickety  boat  manned  by  men  with  whom 
you  cannot  exchange  a  word.  I  had  understood  that 
we  were  to  cross  the  river  in  a  half  hour,  and  then 
a  walk  of  four  miles  lay  ahead  of  us  before  we 
reached  Pu  Ko,  where  the  animals  were  to  be  se- 
cured, and  where  we  were  to  spend  the  night.  This 
trip  should  have  been  taken  in  less  time,  helped  as 
we  were  by  the  current  and  sails,  but  by  and  by  the 
sails  were  taken  down,  and  the  men  began  to  row. 
After  a  while  we  entered  an  inlet,  and  one  of  the 
rowers  jumped  ashore  and  with  a  rope  began  to  pull 
the  boat.  It  was  about  two  hours  before  we  disem- 
barked— after  having  enjoyed  a  bit  of  quiet,  if  not 
simple,  life. 

14 


Following  my  associates  who  bought  a  penny  lan- 
tern and  candle,  I  trudged  on  for  half  a  mile  to  the 
hong,  or  inn,  where  we  were  to  spend  the  night.  A 
room  was  secured  and  I  passed  through  the  curious 
as  well  as  curious-looking  crowd  that  thronged  the 
hong.  Cold,  damp,  and  cheerless  was  the  room. 
Bare  earth  formed  the  floor ;  a  vile  smelling  oil  lamp 
furnished  sufficient  light  to  make  the  darkness  visi- 
ble. A  brick  bed  over  which  straw  had  been  thrown, 
was  to  be  my  resting  place. 

Li  soon  had  the  table  ready.  The  thoughtfulness 
of  Mrs.  Drummond  was  soon  apparent.  A  table 
cloth  was  spread,  and  dishes  as  well  as  a  quantity  of 
food,  substantial  and  tempting,  were  placed  upon  it. 
The  kindness  of  the  Nanking  missionaries  was  much 
appreciated  at  the  time,  and  the  sense  of  obligation 
deepens  as  distance  and  time  increase.  When  Li 
announced,  ''Dinner  is  served,"  he  did  not  use  those 
words,  but  what  he  did  say  was  entirely  satisfactory. 
While  I  had  not  invited  any  guests  to  my  first  meal, 
the  doorway  and  the  part  of  the  room  near  the  door 
were  filled  with  a  score  of  quiet,  respectful  China- 
men, who  looked  on  as  interestedly  as  a  party  of 
Presbyterians  in  San  Francisco  had  watched  a 
Celestial  dinner  party  in  Chinatown  a  few  months 
before.  But  somehow  it  does  seem  different  to  watch 
than  to  be  watched — perhaps  it  does  to  a  Chinaman, 
too.  If  Americans  are  amused  by  what  they,  see  in 
Chinatown  in  New  York  or  San  Francisco,  their 
representatives  that  night  apparently  furnished  an 
equal  amount  of  pleasure  to  the  Pu  Koites. 

Before  the  simple  meal  was  ended,  the  business  in 
hand  was  taken  up ;  I  know  now  what  Paul  meant 
about  five  words  of  known  and  several  thousand 
words  of  unknown  tongues — I  have  always  had  great 


faith  in  Paul, — that  faith  has  l)cen  streng^thened  by 
m\'  trip  to  Hwai  Yuen.  Mr.  Druniinond's  servant 
and  the  boy  and  the  hon^^-keeper,  and  every  China- 
man in  the  inn,  and  apparently  every  resident  in 
Pu  Ko,  were  as  deeply  interested  in  the  proposed 
journey  as  the  traveler;  certainly  they  expressed  a 
deeper  interest  in  it  than  he  did.  It  was  amusing 
to  watch  the  fencing  between  the  servant  and  the 
muleteer  who  had  been  asked  his  price  for  the  trip. 
He  had  two  mules  and  a  donkey,  as  I  learned  later 
through  a  young  Chinaman  who  had  been  in  a  mis- 
sion school  in  Nanking  where  he  had  learned  a  little 
English ;  he  was  now  the  schoolmaster  in  Pu  Ko.  - 

Unable  to  settle  matters  himself,  the  hong-keeper 
had  sent  for  this  young  teacher.  The  price  and  the 
number  of  animals  were  not  satisfactory,  but  no 
other  muleteer  would  even  discuss  the  possibility  of 
making  a  bargain  with  another  man. 

"It  is  his  job,"  w^as  all  they  would  say.  I  have 
never  seen  labor  union  principles  more  vigorously 
applied.  I  must  take  Lao,  who  had  been  first  ap- 
proached, and  at  his  price,  or  walk  to  Hwai  Yuen. 
At  last  the  capitalist  yielded ;  he  yielded  with  a  smile 
and  solemnly  promised  to  pay  $23  (Mexican),  about 
$11  in  American  money,  for  the  muleteer  and  his 
two  mules  and  a  donkey  for  ten  days — the  owner  to 
pay  all  hotel  bills  for  himself  and  his  animals ;  if  Lao 
had  said  $23  gold,  he  would  have  received  it,  for  the 
journey  had  to  be  taken.  This  momentous  question 
settled,  "Nature's  sweet  restorer"  was  sought  and 
found,  and  this  without  the  sprinkling  of  powder 
over  the  bed  and  around  the  room,  the  first  process 
in  many  a  Chinese  inn  ;  apparently  T  had  been  taken 
to  a  first-class  hotel.  The  bedding  supplied  by  the 
Aments  in  Peking,  another  family  of  blessed  mem- 


ory,  was  rolled  out  over  the  straw,  and  the  cheerless- 
ness  and  the  dampness  of  the  room  were  soon  for- 
gotten ;  I  was  putting-  myself  in  the  position  of  an 
itinerating  missionary,  and  unpleasant  surroundings 
and  reflections  upon  them  must  be  borne  as  the  mis- 
sionaries bear  them — as  a  part  of  the  daily  task  which 
the  Master  gives  as  they  go  forth  with  Him  as  their 
Guide  and  Teacher  and  Friend. 


" 'Hozv  fair  is  the  feet!'  From  the  vieivpoint  of  Heaven 
there  is  nothing  on  the  earth  more  lovely  than  the  bearing 
of  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ  into  the  needing  world,  zvhen 
the  bearer  is  one  'ivho  loves  and  knows.'  It  is  tJte  continua- 
tion of  what  the  King  Himself  'began  to  do'  when  He  was 
His  own  first  Missionary  to  a  world  which  needed  Him  im- 
nieasurablv,  vet  did  not  know  Him  zvhen  He  came." 


CHAPTER  III 

Off  For  Hwai  Yuen 

TV /TORNING  comes  to  the  traveler  in  China 
-^^-■-  about  two  hours  eadier  than  it  does  at  home. 
Long  before  dawn  the  yard  of  the  inn  at  Pu  Ko  was 
astir,  and  sleep  for  that  day  was  out  of  the  question. 
Li  and  Lao,  my  boy  and  my  muleteer,  were  awake 


Edwin  C.  Lobenstine  and  Du  Bois  S.  Morris 
Two  of  the  Hwai  Yuen  Missionaries 


and  up  and  no  one  else  could  be  asleep.  The  bedding 
was  not  aired  as  it  should  have  been,  but  then  there 
was  no  window  to  open  for  the  fresh  morning  air 
to  enter  with  health-giving  breezes ;  when  the  door 
leading  into  the  yard  was  opened,  I  saw  the  wisdom 
of  letting  the  bedding  air  in  the  bundle  on  the  mule's 
back  as  we  journeyed.     In  the  homeland  a  young 

19 


^^lANC-  HS 


The  An-Hui  Province  in  China 

[From  Nanking  to  Ilwai  Yuen,  the  water  route  is  west  on  thelYangtse  to  Chin-Kiang,  where  the  Grand 
Canal  starts  north  towards  Tientsin;  then  through  the  Canal  to  Lake  Hung-tseh,  then  East  through  the 
Lake  and  the  Ko  River  to  its  junction  with  the  Hwal  River  at  Hwai  Yuen.  The  author  crossed  the 
Yangtse  at  Nanking  and  traveled  in  a  northwesterly  direction  for  four  days,  covering  the  hundred  and 
fifty  miles  in  that  time. 


20 


man  won  his  mother-in-law  before  he  did  his  wife 
bv  airing  his  sleeping  room ;  he  must  have  acted 
under  a  sudden  impulse. 

It  is  one  of  the  many  regrets  of  my  life  that  I  was 
not  able  to  follow  Colonel  Roosevelt  up  San  Juan 
Hill ;  when  I  reach  home  I  am  going  to  apply  for 
membership  in  his  famous  organization — I,  too,  am  a 
rough  rider ;  I  had  to  be.  Every  one  has  to  be  who 
rides  a  Chinese  mule.  The  pressure  of  the  hind  hoof 
of  a  mule  on  different  parts  of  one's  body  is  more 
warm  than  welcome,  until  the  rider  gets  fully  accus- 
tomed to  this  form  of  salutation,  and  then  he  begins 
to  miss  something  usual  if  the  caress  is  not  given. 

"Off  for  Hwai  Yuen.    Six  animals,  three  human." 

This  was  the  parting  message  sent  back  by  the 
messenger  to  be  forwarded  to  the  wife  in  Peking, 
for  we  were  to  travel  where  no  railway  or  telegraph 
line  had  ever  been  stretched.  No  letter  could  be  writ- 
ten which  would  reach  her  before  I  returned  and  no 
other  telegram  could  be  sent  for  three  days. 

It  was  a  modest  company  that  started  from  Pu  Ko 
early  on  a  Tuesday  morning.  The  pack  mule  led  the 
procession ;  Lao,  the  muleteer,  on  foot  followed ;  then 
came  the  American  on  his  mule,  and  bringing  up  the 
rear  Li  on  his  donkey.  There  should  have  been  a 
mule  or  a  donkey  for  Lao.  but  I  had  secured  all  the 
animals  which  he  had. 

The  pack  mule  bore  the  burdens  without  a  com- 
plaint. I  called  him  Central,  because  when  I  wanted 
to  say  something,  not  that  any  one  could  understand 
me,  but  because  I  must  speak  or  scream — the  silence 
was  so  oppressive — I  would  call  out  ''Hello !"  In  a 
moment  or  two  a  reply  would  often  come  from  Cen- 
tral that  a  not  too  vivid  imagination  could  construe 
into: 


"Biis-y,  bus-y,  bus-y !" 

The  remark  may  not  have  been  a  response  to  my 
salutation,  but  simply  an  exchange  of  greetings  with 
another  mule  in  a  passing  caravan.  Central  did  not 
always  reply  promptly  to  my  call ;  that  was  one  rea- 
son also  why  the  name  seemed  appropriate.  Our 
direction  from  Tuesday  morning  till  Friday  night 
was  to  be  almost  due  northwest,  but  we  made  many 
detours  every  hour,  turning  right  angles,  climbing 
mountains,  fording  streams, picking  our  way  through 
countless  villages,  with  Central  ahead,  followed 
by  the  foreigner  on  his  mule — I  had  a  name  for  him, 
too,  based  upon  his  kicking  propensities,  but  I  do  not 
wish  to  obtrude  politics  into  a  missionary  tale. 

The  first  day  at  noon  our  troubles  began.  There 
had  been  a  slight  misunderstanding  between  mem- 
bers of  the  party  earlier  in  the  day,  but  I  had  yielded 
then  and  did  at  noon  also.  Lao  insisted  that  I 
should  ride  behind  Central.  Once  I  rode  ahead  and 
let  my  mule  trot  for  about  three  rods.  Lao  ran  up, 
jabbered  in  Chinese,  grabbed  the  bridle  and  led  my 
mule  for  an  hour.  I  let  that  pass  and  he  saw  that  I 
was  "easy."  At  noon  I  wanted  to  go  on  to  Si  Goh, 
where  I  had  been  told  by  the  missionaries  to  get  my 
midday  meal.  Lao  decided  that  he  would  not  go  so 
far;  he  said  nothing,  but  he  drove  the  animals  into 
an  inn  before  we  reached  Si  Goh  ;  again  I  yielded, 
and  he  saw  that  I  was  "very  easy." 

Si  Goh  was  passed  an  hour  after  starting  in  the 
afternoon.  I  said  to  myself,  I  could  not  say  it  to 
any  one  else :  "We  shall  have  to  ride  faster  to  make 
up  that  hour  or  Hwai  Yuen  cannot  be  reached  by 
Friday  night.  About  4  o'clock  we  reached  U-We 
and  to  my  great  surprise  Central,  Li  and  the  donkey 
turned  into  the  vard  of  an  inn. 


Then  I  saw  why  we  had  not  dined  at  Si  Goh.    Lao 
had  planned  a  shorter  day's  journey  than  the  con- 


Lao  and  Li -Muleteer  and  Boy 


tract  called  for.  Chu  Cho  was  the  place  agreed  upon 
as  the  place  where  we  were  to  spend  the  first  night. 
For  a  few  niinutes  the  American  had  his  hands  fulL 


23 


Lao  arg-ued — it  was  really  a  one-sided  argument; 
my  mule  tried  to  throw  me  and  join  Central  in  the 
yard ;  Li  took  sides  with  Lao — that  was  my  impres- 
sion, though  I  could  not  swear  to  it ;  the  inn-keeper 
came  out  and  his  servants  with  him.  They  evi- 
dently did  not  wish  to  have  six  animals,  three  of 
them  human,  go  on  to  the  rival  inn  at  Chu  Cho.  Lao 
reviled  nie ;  he  seemed  to  use  fearful  language,  my 
mule  revolved  several  times,  the  men  began  to  unload 
Central. 

I  forbade  that,  and  requested  them  to  desist.  This 
time  I  did  not  yield.  The  "foreign  devil"  sat  his 
mule  and  smilingly  said  : 

"Chu  Cho." 

The  native  saints  were  truly  Celestial.  They 
smiled  also  and  continued  to  unload  Central. 

"Chu  Cho." 

Lao  pointed  to  the  sun — there  was  not  time  to 
reach  Chu  Cho  before  dark. 

"Chu  Cho,"  was  my  only  answer.  What  more 
could  I  say? 

Lao  pointed  to  the  mule — he  was  too  tired  to  go 
further.  The  places  for  noon  and  night  refreshment 
had  been  selected  by  Mr.  Drummond  in  Nanking, 
who  had  been  over  this  trail  on  foot  many  times. 

"Chu  Cho." 

Lao  pointed  to  his  feet — he  could  walk  no  further ; 
the  places  had  been  named  when  the  contract  was 
made.  They  were  the  only  good  ones — no,  that 
statement  needs  qualifying;  no  others  were  so  good 
as  these. 

"Chu  Cho." 

Lao  fell  prostrate  and  bumped  his  forehead  on  the 
ground — he  would  move  me  by  prayer.     I  nearly 

24 


yielded,  but  stories  of  the  inns  at  places  not  scheduled 
came  to  my  mind. 

''Chu  Cho." 

In  a  flash  Lao  had  ceased  to  pray.  He  was  on  his 
feet,  and  like  a  madman  rushed  towards  me,  his 
heavy  whip  in  hand.  The  time  had  come  to  stop 
smiling.  Perhaps  a  frown  chased  it  away ;  Lao  says 
I  made  a  fist — he  is  in  error;  I  was  trying  to  hold 
my  mule  and  keep  my  seat  in  the  saddle  that  fitted 
neither  mule  nor  rider,  and  watch  Lao  and  prevent 
Central  from  being  unloaded,  and  get  Li  on  my  side. 
This  time  I  dropped  my  Chinese  and  spoke  in  Eng- 
lish, slowly,  but  in  a  manner  that  was  not  misunder- 
stood : 

"Li,  come  out  of  that  yard.  Bring  that  pack  mule 
here  and  we  will  start  for  Chu  Cho." 

I  slapped  my  hands  together.  The  effect  was 
electrical.  Lao  is  sure  that  I  made  a  fist.  Li  came 
out  of  the  yard.  The  inn-keeper  and  his  servants 
assisted  in  getting  Central  out  of  the  yard,  having 
restored  his  burden.  Lao,  defiant  but  silent,  with  his 
hand  on  my  bridle,  started  on  for  Chu  Cho,  Li  in  a 
meditative  mood  behind.  Thinking  to  beguile  the 
way,  I  ran  over  the  names  of  the  towns  where  we 
were  to  sleep  on  succeeding  nights. 

''Chu  Cho,  Chih  Ho,  Feng  Yang,  Hwai  Yuen." 

Two  or  three  times  I  repeated  these  mellifluous 
monosyllables.  Finally  the  tension  proved  too  great. 
In  the  most  delicious  sarcasm,  in  tones  wholly 
American,  the  muleteer  mimicked  me  perfectly : 

''Chu  Cho,  Chih  Ho,  Feng  Yang,  Hw^ai  Yuen." 

Possibly  he  prolonged  the  sounds  a  trifle  longer 
than  I  had  done,  but  it  had  the  desired  efi^ect.  It  re- 
lieved Lao's  temper.  He  turned  to  see  what  I  would 
do  next.    He  met  a  smile  and  he  gave  one  in  return. 

25 


Lao  and  I  were  friends,  and  only  once  after  that  was 
there  an  estrangement,  and  that  was  only  mo- 
mentary; he  had  forgotten  the  incident  at  U-We, 
hut  it  soon  came  to  his  mind  and  we  remained 
friends. 


"The  essence  of  disciplesliip  is  love.  The  best  of  love  is 
not  emotion  but  obedience.  And  the  school  of  obedience  is 
sacrifice,  even  suffering.  Thus  Jesus  learned  obedience  of 
the  things  that  He  suffered.'  'It  is  the  way  the  Master  zvent. 
Shall  not  the  servant  tread  it  still?'  " 


CHAPTER  IV 
A  Lonely  Night  on  the  Way 

TT  was  four  o'clock  when  we  left  U-We,  two 
hours  later  than  it  should  have  been.  Had  Lao 
intended  to  reach  Chu  Clio  that  night  we  should  have 
been  at  U-We  by  two  o'clock  and  at  Chu  Cho  at  six. 
Since  Lao  will  probably  not  read  this  letter,  I  do  not 
mind  saying  that  I  had  not  ridden  an  hour  beyond 
U-We  before  I  would  have  been  glad  if  I  had  re- 
mained there ;  on  reflection,  I  am  willing  that  Lao 
should  know  it. 

It  was  a  November  afternoon.  The  day  was  short 
and  the  air  was  chill.  As  the  sun  went  down  and  the 
temperature  fell,  I  sufl^ered  from  the  cold.  The  moon 
did  not  rise  till  ten  o'clock.  We  secured  three  two- 
cent  paper  lanterns  and  rode  on  and  on  and  ever  on 
toward  Chu  Cho.  Once  or  twice  I  dismounted,  but 
after  walking  for  a  time  over  the  treacherous  trail, 
I  concluded  that  I  was  safer  on  the  mule's  back  than 
on  my  own  feet.  It  was  my  first  day  in  the  saddle 
for  several  months,  and  counting  out  the  time  spent 
in  the  inn  at  noon  we  traveled  more  than  ten  hours 
that  day  before  the  walls  of  Chu  Cho  appeared,  but 
only  by  reaching  that  town  Tuesday  night  could  we 
reach  Hwai  Yuen  Friday  night,  and  keep  my  con- 
tract with  Lao  and  Li  whose  pictures  I  took  as  the 
muleteer  was  beginning  his  midday  meal. 

But  now  we  are  in  Chu  Cho  at  last.  A  tired  set 
are  the  animals,  especially  the  three  human  ones ;'  I 
can  vouch  for  one  of  them.    The  mules  and  donkevs 


are  taken  to  the  stable  which  I  pass  through  on  the 
way  to  the  room  in  the  inn  to  which  I  am  assigned. 
And  this  is  one  of  the  better  inns !  What  should  I 
have  found  in  one  not  first-class?  The  room  last 
night  was  bad  enough.  It  was  dirty  and  close  and 
ill-smelling  with  its  smoking  oil  lamp,  but  that  room 
was  palatial  compared  to  this  one  in  which  I  must 
eat  and  sleep.  And  yet  this  room  is  one  of  the  best 
on  the  route  over  which  the  missionaries  travel.  I 
studied  for  eight  years  intending  to  be  a  foreign 
missionary,  and  this  is  what  I  should  have  had  to  en- 
dure if  I  had  been  sent  to  this  part  of  China. 

While  I  sit  on  the  kang,  the  raised  brick  platform 
in  one  corner  of  the  room  which  serves  as  chair  and 
bed,  Li  sets  the  table.  The  window  is  out  and  the 
raw  breeze  pours  in.  I  am  unable  to  close  the  door. 
I  am  chilled  through  and  I  fear  that  I  shall  add  to  the 
cold  that  I  have.  The  room  fills  up  with  men,  wo- 
men and  children,  staring  at  the  traveler  as  if  he  were 
the  wild  man  from  Borneo ;  they  do  not  often  have  a 
chance  to  see  an  American  traveler.  Li  brings  in  the 
dinner,  a  cup  of  poor  tea  and  a  bit  of  bread  and  jam. 
I  manage  to  eat  a  little,  but  it  is  a  great  effort  even 
to  do  this.  I  am  not  sick,  exactly,  but  if  the  visitors 
would  withdraw  for  a  moment  and  let  me  induls^e 
in  a  quiet  wiping  of  moisture  that  unbidden  dims 
my  sight,  I  would  esteem  it  a  kindness.  But  they 
manifest  no  signs  of  leaving  me,  and  rousing  myself 
I  say  inwardly : 

"Missionaries  are  not  run  by  water  power  nor  will 
I  be." 

But  not  even  this  assertion  rests  my  body  nor 
promises  a  night  free  from  danger  to  my  health.  I 
have  in  my  pocket  a  letter  to  a  missionary  who  lives 
in  Chu  Cho  on  whom  I  intend  to  call  in  the  morning. 


I  would  send  it  to  him  now,  were  it  not  so  late,  and 
if  I  knew  that  his  wife  had  not  been  ill.  For  a  time 
I  try  to  be  brave — as  brave  as  a  missionary  would  be, 
as  brave  as  he  is — but  at  last  I  weaken,  and  in  a  hand 
showing  both  fatigue  and  cold,  I  send  a  modest  line : 

"If  your  wife's  health  will  permit  a  stranger  com- 
ing to  your  home  at  this  hour,  and  if  you  have  a 
spare  bed  or  lounge  which  I  can  occupy  for  the  night, 
I  shall  be  most  grateful." 

In  a  few  minutes  a  messenger  came  with  a  cordial 
invitation  to  come  at  once,  and  the  resolution  which 
I  had  made  to  sleep  in  the  inns  as  the  missionaries 
did  was  shattered ;  they  are  made  of  sterner  stuff 
than  the  writer.  Were  the  destination  the  scene  of  a 
battle,  the  tomb  of  a  great  man  or  the  site  of  a  temple, 
I  should  return  to  Nanking  the  next  morning.  But 
better  than  temples  or  tombs  or  battlefields  is  the 
destination  that  awaits  the  traveler  who  presses  on  to 
Hwai  Yuen. 

A  night  in  a  Christian  bed,  following  the  hearty 
welcome  which  I  received  when  reaching  the  home 
of  W.  R.  Hunt,  and  a  good  breakfast  the  next  morn- 
ing, quite  restored  the  weary  traveler,  and  tears  did 
not  trouble  him  again ;  other  nights  were  lonely  and 
other  inns  were  forbidding,  and  other  crowds  of  in- 
quisitive people  stared  at  him,  but  he  never  weakened 
again ;  he  was  gaining  something  of  the  spirit  of  the 
missionaries  whom  he  was  going  to  meet  at  the  end 
of  the  week. 

The  Church  of  the  Disciples  has  a  large  and  suc- 
cessful mission  work  at  Nanking ;  a  school  at  Pu  Ko, 
a  station  with  two  families  at  Chu  Cho,  and  its  mis- 
sionaries are  planning  to  run  a  chain  of  stations, 
three  or  four  hundred  miles  northwest  of  Nanking. 
They  are  doing  excellent  work  in  this  part  of  China, 


and  are  meeting  with  good  results.  One  of  their 
men  in  Chu  Cho  is  Dr.  Osgood,  and  he  insisted  on 
accompanying  me  during  the  morning  ride.  Rut  first 
he  had  a  plain  talk  with  Li  and  Lao.  He  told  Li  that 
he  must  do  what  I  said,  not  what  Lao  said ;  that  he 
should  have  helped  me  at  U-We,  instead  of  going 
in  the  yard  as  Lao  requested  him  to  do.  Li  said  that 
he  was  afraid  of  Lao,  or  that  he  was  until  he  saw 
that  the  traveler  was  not,  and  he  promised  not  to 
take  sides  with  him  again.  Lao  heard  some  plain 
facts  about  his  duty  in  keeping  contracts ;  he  is 
told  that  Chih  Ho  is  the  next  place  to  stay  over 
night.  Lao  demurred  at  this,  naming  a  town  this 
side,  a  few  hours  less  of  travel  for  this  day  he  planned 
also. 

Dr.  Osgood  settles  on  a  plan  for  circumventing 
the  muleteer.  He  tells  him  also  that  he  must  let  me 
ride  ahead  and  save  time  if  I  choose  to  do  so,  letting 
the  pack  mule  come  on  as  he  may.  He  will  go  with 
me  to  a  village  a  half  day's  ride  from  Chu  Cho,  and 
after  dinner  there  at  the  home  of  a  Christian 
preacher,  a  Chinaman,  he  will  turn  me  over  to  the 
preacher,  who  will  ride  with  us  past  the  town  where 
Lao  planned  to  stop  for  the  night  and  see  us  safely 
started  on  the  last  part  of  the  trail  to  Chih  Ho. 

"Suppose  Lao  objects  to  this  arrangement;  I  can- 
not talk  to  your  preacher  any  better  than  I  can  to  the 
driver." 

''You  will  not  need  to  talk  to  either.  Wdien  you 
see  the  preacher,  you  will  understand." 

Nothing  is  said  to  Lao  of  our  plans ;  he  will  find 
out  what  his  duty  is  by  a  living  illustration  rather 
than  by  precept ;  when  he  finds  our  party  enlarged  by 
the    addition   of   another   member   of   his    own    na- 


tionalit}',  words  will  not  be  necessary,  Dr.  Osgood 
says. 

One  of  the  prized  half  days  of  my  months,  in 
China  was  the  time  s]:)ent  with  Dr.  Osgood  as  we 
trotted  together  over  the  plain,  losing  sight  entirely 
of  Li  and  Lao  and  the  pack  animals,  or  toiled  up  the 
mountain  sides  together,  talking  of  the  homeland 
and  mutual  friends  there  or  of  the  hopes  and  trials 
and  successes  of  the  missionaries  in  the  land  in  which 
we  are  traveling.  Scarcely  a  word  about  hardships, 
but  much  about  joys  and  opportunities;  every  cloud 
seems  to  have  been  turned  wrong  side  out  by  these 
devoted  men  and  women  and  only  the  silver  Hning 
appears.  It  was  restful  to  be  in  the  company  of  one 
wdio  can  understand  you ;  I  did  not  know^  Cjuite  wdiat 
a  hardship  T  was  undergoing  in  starting  out  as  I  cHd, 
but  the  prize  was  w'orth  the  effort.  Again  and  again 
the  prayer  came  to  my  thoughts  and  often  to  my 
lips : 

''God  bless  these  faithful  missionaries,  and  give  me 
somethino-  of  their  fidelity  and  heroism." 


"Evidences  multiply  (hat  the  long-anticipated  azvakening 
of  China  has  come.  Pray  that  the  missionaries  may  be  given 
special  grace  in  this  supreme  hour,  and  that  the  Church  may 
realise  its  solemn  responsibility.  This  is  the  time  to  send 
generous  reinforcements." 


CHAPTER  V 


In  A  Chinese  AIob 


'T^  HE  native  preacher,  who  was  to  aid  the  traveler 

in     defeating    his    muleteer's     intentions    to 

shorten  the  second  day's  journey  as  he  had  tried  to 

do  the  first  day,  comprehended  Dr.  Osgood's  thought 


The  Traveler's  Mules  and  Pack 


in  a  moment.  When  I  saw  him  I  had  no  fear  that 
Lao  would  sulk  in  his  presence.  Xor  did  I  fear  that 
he  would  threaten  either  the  preacher  or  me  while 
the  former  was  in  sight.  "A  story  teller  by  profes- 
sion." 


accustomed  to  gather  crowds  and  entertain 

33 


them  by  the  hour  by  the  recital  of  wonderful  tales, 
playing  upon  their  imagination,  upon  their  knowl- 
edge of  the  history  of  their  native  land  and  upon 
their  love  of  the  dramatic,  after  his  conversion  the 
stalwart  Chinaman  threw  all  his  powers  into  the 
service  of  Christ,  to  become  a  consecrated  teller  of 
the  story  of  Calvary.  As  large  nearly  as  Lao  and 
Li  together,  his  presence  alone  was  greatly  in  his 
favor.  The  Chinese  reverence  size  as  well  as  intel- 
lect— the  lowest  cultured  class  think  more  of  bulk 
than  of  worth. 

The  dinner  served  at  this  preacher's  house  was 
purely  Chinese,  for  which  I  was  grateful ;  and  it 
was  supplemented  by  the  contents  of  Mrs.  Drum- 
mond's  basket,  for  which  I  was  still  more  grateful. 
This  basket  constantly  brought  to  mind  the  famous 
cruse  of  oil — the  supply  seemed  inexhaustible.  I 
wished  to  pay  for  the  entertainment ;  Dr.  Osgood 
assured  me  that  nothing  would  cause  the  preacher 
more  sorrow,  but  it  was  possible  to  assuage  sorrow 
thus  produced — "like  cures  like"  in  China,  as  else- 
where. 

After  dinner  the  American  physician  started  back 
to  his  home.  The  procession  of  animals,  four  hu- 
man now,  moved  on  toward  the  northwest.  Central 
ahead  as  usual,  and  the  preacher  astride  his  little 
donkey  acting  as  rearguard.  About  three  o'clock 
we  passed  the  uninviting  resting  place  to  which  Lao 
had  referred,  but  the  muleteer  was  as  insensible  to 
inns  as  to  the  sun  or  moon,  both  of  which  were  visi- 
ble at  the  time.  He  said  nothing  about  weariness, 
his  own  or  his  animals ;  he  neither  prayed  nor 
threatened  as  he  had  done  at  LT-^^^e ;  he  simply 
plodded  on  and  ever  on,  the  patient,  faithful,  tireless 
Lao !     How  much  of  this  devotion  to  duty  was  due 

34 


to  a  new  resolve  of  purpose,  and  how  much  was  due 
to  the  fact  that  the  story  teller  was  still  in  sight, 
need  not  be  questioned  too  closely. 

Chih  Ho  was  reached  an  hour  after  dark,  an  im- 
provement over  the  previous  day.     The  inn  was  also 


Chinese  Mothers  and  Children 

better  than  the  one  at  Chu  Cho,  and  there  was  no 
other  place  to  which  to  go ;  when  bridges  are  burned 
it  is  easier  to  press  forward.  It  was  somewhat 
easier  also  to  think  of  the  frugal  meal  which  Li  was 
to  provide. 

Desiring  a  piece  of  chicken  for  supper,  I  try  to 
think  how  I  can  tell  Li  what  I  wish.  ]\Ir.  Drum- 
mond  had  written  the  Chinese  word  for  egg  in  my 
note  book,  but  not  the  one  for  chicken ;  evidently 
missionaries  do  not  indulge  in  luxuries  of  this  kind 
on  their  itinerating  trips.     But  how  am  I  to  get  my 

35 


chicken?  The  language  of  hens  is  universal;  I  do 
not  need  to  learn  Chinese  to  order  a  chicken. 

''Li !  Cock-a-doodle-do !"  Then  I  point  to  the 
table.  Li  smiles  and  starts  for  the  yard.  Soon  a 
noise  not  peculiar  to  China  is  heard,  and  I  know  that 
a  pullet  will  soon  be  roasting. 

Though  the  hour  was  early  when  the  meal  was 
finished,  a  few  verses  from  the  Testament,  a  few 
words  of  gratitude  for  journeying  mercies,  a  few 
words  seeking  protection  and  rest,  and  Li  in  his 
corner  and  I  in  mine,  were  soon  fast  asleep.  Lao 
slept  with  the  other  caravan  drivers,  and  at  four 
o'clock  summoned  us  to  prepare  for  the  next  day's 
journey.  Thinking  that  we  would  save  time  if  we 
rode  till  daylight,  and  then  let  the  animals  rest  while 
breakfast  was  served,  this  direction  was  given.  But, 
alas  for  the  result ! 

Shortly  after  daylight  Lao  discovered  that  the 
riding  mule  was  ill.  My  knowledge  of  Chinese  mules 
was  limited,  and  further  it  was  Lao's  mule.  I 
walked  for  an  hour,  not  wishing  to  ride  a  sick  mule, 
or  one  thought  to  be  suffering.  In  the  meantime  Li 
had  gone  on  with  the  basket  and  I  saw  neither  him 
nor  the  basket  till  eleven  o'clock.  A  little  Chinese 
boy  munching  a  sweet  potato  was  induced  to  get 
another  by  the  offer  of  a  few  cash,  and  this  consti- 
tuted my  entire  breakfast.  In  the  meantime  Lao 
had  called  in  a  veterinarian  from  a  passing  caravan. 
They  decided  to  bleed  the  mule,  but  instead  of  mak- 
ing a  modest  incision  in  the  upper  jaw,  as  is  some- 
times done  in  America,  a  large  needle  was  thrust  into 
the  inner  part  of  the  eyelid.  The  mule  was  securely 
tied,  but  his  agony  was  intense. 

After  receiving  this  medical  treatment  we  started 
on  again.    For  a  long  time  I  walked,  but  feeling  sure 


that  the  mule  was  not  seriously  ill,  I  started  to  mount 
him.  Li  protested,  and  secured  a  horse  from  a 
passing  caravan  for  me  to  ride.  The  horse  was  car- 
rying a  load,  but  with  the  aid  of  two  or  three  China- 
men, I  was  placed  on  top  of  the  pack  that  swayed 
from  the  saddle,  where  my  feet  hung  over  the  horse's 
neck.    I  had  no  support  for  either  hands  or  feet,  and 


Trying  to  Make  Them  Look  Pleasant 

the  load  swayed  from  side  to  side.  Instead  of  falling 
off,  I  jumped  off,  and  went  back  to  my  mule.  Li 
protested,  cried,  scowled,  threatened,  and  kotowed. 
Hong  Sing  was  reached  at  last  and  Li  was  found 
with  breakfast  prepared.  Here,  as  elsewhere,  a 
crowd  of  people  pressed  in  the  room  where  I  was 
eating,  sometimes  at  a  distance,  but  usually  as  near 
the  table  as  possible,  staring  and  making  remarks  to 
one  another,  apparently  criticising  or  commending 


the  dishes  and  the  manner  of  eating-  the  food  pre- 
pared. A  group  of  Chinese  women  and  children 
pressed  in  upon  us,  and  I  secured  permission  to  snap 
them  also ;  the  children  could  not  be  appeased  even 
by  cash,  but  the  mothers  could. 

At  eight  o'clock,  three  hours  after  sundown,  we 
reached  Feng  Yang,  a  walled  city.  The  inns  were 
closed,  but  after  much  hallooing,  Lao  found  a  place 
for  the  animals,  but  there  was  no  room  for  us  there, 
or  anywhere  else,  as  far  as  we  could  learn.  A 
Chinese  gentleman  traveling  wath  his  wife  had  re- 
served the  entire  inn.  I  wished  to  telegraph  Mrs. 
Devins,  and  Li  went  with  me  to  find  a  telegraph 
office,  the  first  one  that  we  had  been  able  to  reach 
since  leaving  Nanking.  Scarcely  had  we  passed 
through  the  gates  into  the  city,  when  a  half  dozen 
fellows  attracted  by  the  foreigner  beg-an  to  follow  us. 
The  half  dozen  increased  to  twenty  within  two  or 
three  minutes,  and  soon  a  crowd  of  a  hundred  or 
more  had  surrounded  me,  part  of  them  running 
ahead  and  others  behind  :  some  jostling  against  me 
and  many  hooting  and  shouting.  The  situation  was 
not  a  comfortable  one. 

Fearing  that  there  might  be  danger,  I  stopped 
and  faced  the  crowd  ;  it  also  stopped.  Then  I  said 
with  a  wave  of  my  hand  : 

''Go  back,  please,"  and  the  space  was  cleared  for 
two  or  three  yards.  As  we  could  not  converse  with 
one  another,  and  the  crowd  was  increasing  all  the 
time,  Li  and  I  started  again  for  the  telegraph  office. 
The  situation  soon  became  critical  again,  and  it  was 
with  great  difficulty  that  T  could  make  any  progress. 
Again  I  stopped,  and,  with  a  forward  luotion  of  the 
hand,  said,  in  more  forcible  tones  : 

"Stand  back."     Instantly  the  crowd  fell  back,  for 

38 


while  they  could  not  understand  English  they  had 
the  same  respect  for  size  that  Lao  had  for  the  big 
story  teller.  Again  we  started  for  the  office,  and 
turning  quickly  at  one  point  I  found  a  man  with  his 
hand  raised  to  strike  my  hat.  The  "stand  back" 
this  time  could  be  heard  a  block,  and  the  crowd  re- 
ceded half  that  distance.  Before  it  gathered  suffi- 
ciently to  give  further  annoyance,  we  had  reached 
the  office.  Passing  through  nine  courts  after  enter- 
ing the  yard,  I  found  a  native  operator  who  could 
speak  a  few  words  of  English. 

''What  does  this  crowd  mean?"  I  asked. 

"You — no — fear — soldiers — off — duty — " 
.  Having  just  come  from  Peking  where  stories  were 
still  told  of  the  work  of  the  Chinese  soldiers  in  the 
Boxer  siege,  this  statement  was  not  particularly  re- 
assuring. The  progress  back  to  the  gate  was  simi- 
lar to  the  one  to  the  office.  By  stopping  occasionally 
and  pleasantly  or  severely,  as  the  case  seemed  to 
warrant,  urging  the  crowd  to  stand  back,  I  reached 
the  gate  without  violence.  Closing  it  quickly  be- 
hind me  the  progress  of  the  crowd  was  stopped,  and 
for  a  block  I  could  hear  the  wrangling,  into  which 
its  members  had  become  involved  with  the  gate- 
keeper. By  this  time  we  were  at  the  inn,  or  the 
stable,  where  Li  and  I  were  to  sleep. 

When  I  reached  Hwai  Yuen  the  next  day  I 
learned  that  there  w^as  a  chapel  at  Feng  Yang,  car- 
ried on  by  the  American  missionaries,  and  that  Mr. 
Lobenstine  not  long  before  had  been  cut  in  the  head 
by  a  stone  thrown  by  a  youth  in  a  crowd  similar  to 
the  one  that  had  followed  us.  The  people  in  that 
city  are  the  most  unfriendly  of  all  that  the  mission- 
aries visit.  Later  I  learned  from  other  Americans 
that  they  had  been  driven  from  Eeng  Yang,  the  offi- 


cials  being  unable  to  restrain  the  citizens  who  pride 
themselves  upon  their  hostility  to  foreigners. 

Supper  was  served — the  remnants  of  the  roasted 
chicken,  the  last  pieces  of  bread  from  Nanking, 
some  native  tea  and  a  bit  of  jam,  but  there  are  times 
when  one  may  be  too  tired  to  enjoy  even  jam;  such 
a  time  had  come  in  Feng  Yang.  Unrolling  our 
bedding  a  few  yards  from  the  mules,  with  the 
muleteers  passing  over  our  feet  on  the  way  to  get 
straw  for  the  animals,  Li  and  I  lay  side  by  side  on 
our  respective  rolls.  The  score  of  jabbering  drivers 
finally  became  quiet,  but  not  till  after  we  were  fast 
asleep. 

Never  in  a  religious  meeting,  not  even  on  Round 
Top  at  Northfield,  or  on  Olivet  in  Jerusalem,  have  I 
felt  so  near  the  Christ  of  Bethlehem,  as  on  that  night 
when  I  retired  with  the  animals  in  this  stable,  be- 
cause there  was  no  room  for  us  in  the  inn.  I 
know  something  now  about  the  compensation  to 
which  missionaries  refer  so  often,  but  even  this  does 
not  make  the  beds  less  hard  or  the  discomforts  less ; 
it  helps  one  to  bear  them  without  complaint. 


"With  the  ivorld  under  his  feet,  with  Heaven  in  his  eye, 
ivith  the  Gospel  in  his  hand  and  Christ  in  his  heart,  the  mis- 
sionary pleads  as  an  ambassador  of  God,  knozving  nothing 
but  Jesus  Christ,  and  gloryiiig  in  notJii)ig  but  in  the  cross 
of  Jesus  Christ." 


40 


CHAPTER  VI 
Received  as  a  Brother  Beloved 

A     FAMILIAR   couplet   in   a    family   known   to 
the  writer  runs, 

"  When  we  reach  the  shore  at  last 
Who  will  count  the  billows  past?" 

The  figure  is  not  wholly  true  to  life,  but  it  will 

answer  with  a  proper  regard  for  license.     We  were 

far  from  the  sea,  Lao  and  Li  and  I,  as  we  set  out  on 

our  fifth  day's  journey.     Long  before  daylight  we 

had  left  Feng  Yang  with  its  ''soldiers  off  duty,"  and 

its  stable  where  we  had  slept. 

The  trail  was  followed  easily, 

however,  for  we  were  simply 

^1^^  a   part   of   an   almost   endless 

fcl  1^  W  caravan  that  moved  on  and  on, 

♦^     ^  soniething  after  the  manner  of 

W*  the  one  which  Bryant  saw  in 

his    "Thanatopsis."      In    fact 

there  were  two  caravans — one 

going  our  way  and  the  other 

bound   for   Nanking.     A  few 

ponies,  many  mules  and  don- 

Miss  ROSE  HOFFMAN,      j^^^^.^^  ^^^^^  whcclbarrows  and 

NOW  Mrs.  Lobenstine  ;  ,  .  ,. 

a  large  number  of  coolies  car- 
rying burdens  on  their  shoulders,  were  met — no 
wagons  or  carts,  for  we  were  still  following  a  trail ; 
roads  and  railroads  will  come  later  in  this  province. 
Early  as  we  had  started,  other  parties  were  ahead 

41 


Map  orHwAiYuEw 


/<\OUNTAIM 


Outline  Map  of  Hwai  Yuen 


of  us ;  before  it  was  light  enough  to  distinguish  ob- 
jects a  rod  away,  the  calls  of  farmers  plowing  in  the 
fields  near  at  hand  were  heard.  Villages  were  seen 
on  every  hand,  with  now  and  then  a  house  better 
than  the  average  dwelling  that  we  passed. 

When  Arthur  ?\Iitchelh  of  sainted  memory,  the 
secretary  of  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  returned 
from  his  visit  to  the  mission  fields  of  Asia,  one  of  the 
chief  burdens  on  his  mind  was  the  immensity  of  the 
population  of  China.  I  can  understand  that  feeling 
better  now.  With  all  that  is  being  done  by  all  the 
missionary  bodies  of  the  world,  the  dying  words  of 
Cecil  Rhodes  seem  applicable : 

"So  much  to  do;  so  little  done." 

Hour  after  hour  we  rode,  mostly  in  silence,  now 
and  then  Lao  and  I  would  spell  each,,  other — he 
would  get  relief  by  riding  and  I  by  walking,  while 
Li  clung  to  his  donkey,  his  feet  dangling  scarcely 
above  the  ground. 

Early  in  the  afternoon  we  came  in  sight  of  East 
Mountain,  and  the  faces  of  both  Chinamen  bright- 
ened. Lao  had  a  hard  time  in  getting-  a  smile  on  his 
morose  countenance,  but  he  made  a  desperate  effort, 
and  succeeded  fairly  well.  Soon  the  Hwai  River 
was  seen  and  then  hopes  beat  high,  for  just  beyond 
the  mountain  and  the  river — Xebo  and  Jordan — lay 
the  city  that  we  sought.  Weariness  was  forgotten 
now,  and  urging  on  the  animals  as  fast  as  mercy 
would  allows  we  headed  for  the  ferry  over  which 
we  were  to  cross.  Others  had  headed  for  the  same 
place  earlier,  as  we  found  to  our  dismay,  and  while  a 
request  for  precedence  would  have  been  granted  to 
the  American,  we  tried  to  follow  the  Golden  Rule 
and  sat  as  patiently  as  we  could  until  our  turn  came. 

Animals  and  men  and  women  and  produce  all  tum- 

43 


ble  into  the  little  boat  which  seems  scarcely  strong 
enoiig-h  to  hold  us,  and  still  less  able  to  battle  with 
the  swift  current  that  swirls  it  around.  But  trusting 
Providence  and  His  agents — Him  rather  more  than 
them — we  settle  down  to  enjoy  the  ride  and  to  study 
the  town  on  the  hillside  in  the  distance.  Li  is  very 
happy ;  he  has  been  here  before  and  he  assumes  com- 
mand from  this  time.  Lao  is  happy;  he  is  near  his 
home  and  he  intends  to  stay  there  and  let  the  for- 
eigner walk  back  to  Nanking,  as  I  learn  a  few  hours 
later.  I  am  happy  because  the  journey  is  so  near 
the  end ;  it  will  be  only  half  as  long  going  back  next 
week. 

Once  across  the  Hwai,  Li  goes  ahead  and  after 
numerous  gesticulations  on  his  part,  I  discover  the  ap- 
proximate location  of  the  missionary  compound,  al- 
though there  is  nothing  special  to  distinguish  it  from 
the  rest  of  the  Chinese  houses.  At  last  Li  stops,  his 
face  radiant,  and  turns  into  a  little  gateway,  Lao  and  I 
following,  and  I  know  that  we  are  in  the  compound. 
Unexpected  though  my  arrival  was  (my  letter  sent 
from  Peking  had  not  been  received),  no  friend 
whose  coming  had  been  anticipated  ever  had  a  more 
cordial  welcome.  Although  I  had  seen  only  one  of 
the  eight  missionaries  in  New  York,  and  him  for 
scarcely  more  than  a  minute,  it  seemed  as  though  we 
had  known  one  another  always. 

"  No  distance  lireaks  the  tie  of  blood. 
Brothers  are  brothers  evermore." 

While  I  had  traveled  nearly  four  hundred  miles 
from  Shanghai  to  see  these  missionaries  and  their 
work,  the  experiences  on  the  way,  especially  the 
overland  trip,  seemed  more  interesting  to  them  at  the 
time   than   the   object    for   which   the    journey    was 

44 


taken,  and  .^^iss  Hoffman  expressed  her  intention 
forthwith  of  "writing  up"  the  Editor.  The  welcome 
given  was  simply  royal,  and  it  was  worth  a  journey 
twice  as  long  and  three  times  as  hard  to  spend  an 
hour  in  either  of  those  happy  households.  Ques- 
tions and  answers  followed  one  another  in  quick 
succession,   and  many   were  the  personal   inquiries 


HwAi  Yuen  from  Across  the  Ko  River 

reeardinsf  Dr.  Smith  and  Mr.  Amerman  and  other 
friends  of  the  Central  Church  in  New  York ;  of  Dr. 
Alexander  and  Dr.  Parkhurst,  former  pastors  of 
one  and  another  of  the  missionaries ;  Dr.  Ellinwood, 
Dr.  Brown,  Mr.  Speer,  Mr.  Hand,  Dr.  White,  and 
other  friends  in  the  Presbyterian  Building. 

'*I  saw  a  gentleman  on  the  train  going  to  the 
General  Assembly  who  said,  Tf  you  go  to  Hwai 
Yuen,  give  my  love  to .'  " 

45 


"It  was  my  precious  father."  said  Mrs.  James  B. 
Cochran,  'Svas  it  not?"  Slie  knew  that  he  had  been 
a  commissioner  to  the  Los  Angeles  Assembly,  and 
she  was  right.    It  was  he. 

By  and  by,  there  will  be  a  railroad  start- 
ing from  Nanking  and  running  northwest  through 
Central  China,  and  other  travelers  will  stop  at  Hwai 
Yuen  on  their  wa}'  to  Thil^et  or  some  other  country 
now  far  away  from  tlie  coast,  but  no  one  of  them 
will  be  the  first  American,  not  a  missionary,  to  reach 
this  interesting  city ;  that  claim  is  staked,  and  eight 
American  witnesses  will  l^e  summoned  if  necessary 
to  defend  it. 

Ranging  from  southeast  to  northwest,  directl}' 
behind  the  coast  provinces  of  China  already  occupied 
to  some  extent  by  missionaries,  lies  the  province  of 
An-Hui,  about  the  size  of  the  State  of  New^  York, 
and  in  the  latitude  of  Georgia,  with  a  population 
computed  at  twenty-one  millions.  In  the  larger  por- 
tion lying  north  of  the  great  Yangtse  River,  is  the 
Central  Church  parish,  with  the  district  capital,  the 
walled  city  of  Hwai  Yuen,  as  its  center.  It  occupies 
a  strategic  position  at  the  junction  of  the  Hwai  and 
Ko  Rivers.  At  points  along  the  Upper  Hwai  are 
scattered  three  or  four  of  the  China  Inland  mission 
workers,  with  an  immense  untouched  field  westward, 
but  the  territory  along  the  Ko  River,  northwest  to 
Honan,  and  far  north  to  the  Yellow  River,  is  the 
occupied  field  of  the  w^orkers  from  New  York. 
Hwai  Yuen  is  the  second  largest  city  in  northern 
An-Hui,  and  not  only  commands  the  vast  river  trade 
with  the  interior  but  is  an  important  distributing 
center  for  inland  points  to  which  large  cart  roads 
extend  in  every  direction.  Besides  the  many  cities 
and  towns  thus  easily  accessible  by  water,  the  num- 

40 


berless  farm  villages  afford  a  field  populous  enough 
to  keep  a  hundred  workers  busy — and  "village  work 
is  the  work  that  tells  in  China."  The  physical  con- 
ditions are  also  favorable,  as  the  land  is  fairly  well 
drained ;  a  wheat-growing  country,  far  healthier 
than  the  partly  flooded,  rice-raising  plains  near  the 
coast. 

Earnest  prayer  for  several  years  had  been  made 
that  God  would  open  the  way  for  the  workers  of  the 
Nanking  Station  to  go  up  and  possess  this  land. 
Meanwhile  God  was  preparing  in  China  the  field  for 
the  workers  and  in  schools  and  colleges  the  workers 
for  the  field,  and  in  Xew  York  a  congregation  of 
consecrated  people  to  bring  the  two  together.  How 
well  the  combination  has  worked  was  the  object  of 
this  trip,  and  the  conclusions  reached  will  be  given 
in  subsequent  chapters.  Little  was  done  the  first 
night  except  to  talk  about  home  friends. 

The  Hwai  Yuen  party  of  missionaries  consists  of 
the  Rev.  and  Airs.  Edwin  C.  Lobenstine ;  Dr.  and 
Mrs.  Samuel  Cochran  and  their  two  children,  Rose 
and  Margaret;  the  Rev.  and  Mrs.  James  B.  Cochran, 
and  their  two  children,  Nancy  and  Williams ;  the 
Rev,  Du  Bois  S.  Morris,  and  Miss  Rose  Lobenstine, 
a  sister  of  the  clergyman.  Mrs.  Lobenstine  was  Miss 
Rose  Hoffman,  a  trained  nurse  holding  an  important 
position  in  the  Presbyterian  Hospital  of  New  York. 
Mrs.  Samuel  Cochran  was  Miss  Watts  of  Morris- 
town,  N.  J.,  and  Mrs.  James  B.  Cochran,  Miss  Jen- 
kins, of  Boonton,  N.  J.  The  Cochran  brothers  are 
sons  of  the  Rev.  L  W.  Cochran  of  ]\Iendham,  N.  J., 
and  grandsons  of  Robert  Carter,  the  well  known 
book  publisher  of  New  York. 


A 


CHAPTER  VII 

Hustling  ix  the  East 

BUSY   day  was  planned  by  the  missionaries 
for    the    visitor,    who    was    thoroughly    re- 


Rest  After  Weariness 

standing  :  Samuel  Cochran.  Mrs.  Samuel  Cochran.  Edwin  C.  Lobenstine, 
Du  Bois  S.  Morris,  James  B.  Cochran. 

Sitting  :  Miss  Lobenstine,  the  traveler,  Mrs.  James  B.  Cochran,  whose 
hand  is  resting  on  the  shoulder  of  Miss  Rose  Hotf  man.  now  Mrs.  Lobenstme. 


freshed  after  one  night  of  rest  in  the  hospitable 
home  of  liis  new-niade  friends.  The  hospital  and 
school  and  church  were  to  be  visited,  an  official  call 
must  be  made  u])on  the  Fu,  or  mayor  of  Hwai 
Yuen,  who  would  doubtless  return  it ;  a  ride  was 
planned  throu£2:h  the  city  to  call  upon  some  of  the 
members  of  the  Central  Presbyterian  Church  of 
Hwai  Yuen,  and  the  day  was  to  end  with  a  Chinese 
feast  in  the  evening.  The  programme  outlined  was 
carried  out,  and  several  other  items  added,  including 
the  taking  of  several  photographs,  some  of  which 
are  reproduced  here. 

If  one  really  wishes  to  practice  the  American  art 
of  hustling  let  him  place  himself  in  the  hands  of 
American  missionaries ;  the  next  box  of  books  going 
to  Hwai  Yuen  or  any  other  mission  station,  should 
include  Pastor  Wagner's  ''Simple  Life,"  and  the 
one  containing  Kipling's  advice  to  those  who  try  to 
hustle  the  East. 

Rut  while  we  are  moralizing,  the  chairs  have  been 
brought  in  which  the  call  is  to  be  made  upon  the  Fu. 
It  is  necessary  to  take  some  court  lessons  before 
starting  out  on  this  momentous  errand.  The  hat 
must  not  be  removed  in  the  presence  of  the  official ; 
the  overcoat  must  be  buttoned  all  the  way  up  and 
down,  and  of  greatest  importance  the  back  must  not 
be  turned  towards  the  host,  not  even  when  getting 
into  the  sedan  chair.  A  school  for  young  ladies  in 
New  York  has  a  carriage  in  the  yard  which  allows 
the  pupils  to  practice  the  lessons  which  they  have 
learned  as  to  the  proper  way  to  enter  and  leave  a  car- 
riage. It  was  necessary  for  me  to  take  a  few  les- 
sons in  the  yard  of  the  Mission  lest  I  fall  over  the 
chair  handles  or  step  on  my  overcoat  or  bump  my 
head  when  backing  away  from  the  Fu.    Having  re- 

50 


ceived  the  approval  of  the  instructor,  and  the  plau- 
dits of  the  sympathetic  spectators,  I  started  with 
"Mr.  James,"  as  the  clergyman  brother  of  the 
Cochran  families  is  affectionately  termed. 


^9^^H^n^Ki^^H^^  i\^ *  «     \       i^j 

hj 

^K^'^-^7  ^^^^Hflv^TaJr 

^,  ^ 

On  the  Way  to  the  Mayor's  Office 


Four  coolies  carried  my  sedan  chair,  which  was 
taken  into  the  official  compound  with  all  the  pomp 
and  formality  which  would  have  been  accorded  an 
ambassador.     After  the  formal  reception,  we  were 


conducted  to  the  audience  room,  and  in  a  moment  or 
two  the  official  came  in,  greeted  Mr.  Cochran  very 
cordially,  and  gave  the  writer  a  hearty  welcome. 
The  conversation  was  carried  on  in  Chinese,  Mr. 
Cochran  speaking  the  language  as  fluently  as  the 
official. 

"How  old  are  you  ?"  was  one  of  the  first  questions 
asked  of  the  visitor,  probably  for  the  reason  that  a 
young  man  proposed  to  the  lady  on  whom  he  was 
calling — it  relieved  the  embarrassment  which  both 
felt  and  opened  the  way  for  further  conversation. 
Confused  somewhat  by  the  abruptness  of  the  ques- 
tion, and  not  wishing  to  deceive  the  host,  the 
terminal  points  of  a  decade  were  given,  but  the  in- 
terpreter said : 

"You  would  better  be  exact,"  and  I  replied, 
" — "  (but  I  am  not  in  China  now,  and  no  one  is 
asking  the  question). 

Oriental  inconsistency  appeared  in  a  moment  when 
s  I  stated  some  facts  regarding  China,  and  especially 
the  city  of  Hwai  Yuen.  The  Fu  demanded  truthful- 
ness from  me  and  then  he  prevaricated  woefully. 
China  was  a  poor  country;  her  people  were  un- 
learned ;  his  city  was  insignificant ;  his  administration 
had  been  a  dismal  failure,  etc.  Suppose  I  had  as- 
sented to  his  derogatory  view  of  his  country  and 
himself!  On  one  point,  if  not  many,  I  did  blunder. 
I  told  him  that  our  American  President  had  taught 
the  officials  for  whom  he  was  responsible  two  les- 
sons:  If  one  of  them  did  well,  no  power  on  earth 
could  remove  him ;  if  he  did  ill,  no  power  could  save 
him.  This  remark  evoked  no  interesting  comment 
as  others  had  done ;  later  I  learned  that  the  poor 
officer  was  soon  to  be  removed,  because  he  had  re- 
fused to  do  ill — those  above  him  demanded  certain 


things  which  he  considered  it  wrong  to  do  and  he 
refused  to  do  them. 

After  the  tea  had  been  served  and  many  kind 
words  had  been  said  by  the  Fit  about  the  mission- 
aries, he  invited  Mr.  Cochran  and  myself  to  a 
Chinese  feast  that  evening.  No  one  will  ever  know 
how  relieved  I  was  to  be  able  to  say  truthfully  that 
I  was  engaged  for  the  evening. 

"Come  to-morrow  evening,"  added  the  official. 

"To-morrow  is  Sunday,"  replied  Mr.  Cochran, 
with  a  smile,  "and  we  do  not  accept  dinner  invita- 
tions for  that  day." 

The  call  ended,  the  getting  away  in  good  form  was 
accomplished,  Mr.  Cochran  said,  without  a  break. 
Soon  after  luncheon  the  call  was  returned,  more  tea 
was  served,  more  praise  for  China  given  and  more 
deprecatory  remarks  made.  The  Fu  was  a  good 
friend  of  the  Americans  and  they  were  sorry  that  he 
was  to  retire. 


"The  more  we  connect  the  missionary  cause  ivith  the 
person  of  Jesus  Christ,  rather  than  zvith  effort  and  or- 
ganization, the  more  divine  zvill  be  the  inspiration  for  each 
detail  of  the  work." 


53 


CHAPTER  VIII 


In  the  School  and  Hospital 


4  4Y\7HAT  the  Church  of  Christ  needs  in  China," 

^^       said  an  eloquent  traveler  though   not  a 

Presbyterian  secretary,  when  addressing  a  body  of 


The  Rev.  James  B.  Cochran  axd  His  School 


missionaries  in  China  :  "\Miat  the  Church  of  Christ 
needs  are  more  missionary  graves  in  this  empire." 
No  applause   followed  this  period,  but  one  of  his 


hearers  from  whom  all  human  nature  had  not  yet 
been  extracted,  said  to  the  writer : 

''Of  course  we  expect  to  fill  g-raves  in  China  some 
day,  and  if  this  meets  the  needs  of  the  Church,  we 
shall  be  pleased.  Some  of  us  in  our  love  for  the 
Church  would  be  perfectly  willing  to  have  our 
rhetorical  friend  fill  another  here  if  it  will  also  help 
in  this  direction." 

Another  visitor  in  China,  with  tears  in  his  eyes  and 
fire  in  his  voice,  said  in  a  public  address  : 

''What  you  missionaries  should  do  is  to  burn  out. 
The  zeal  of  the  Lord's  work  should  consume  you.'' 

"Perhaps  our  friend  was  afraid  to  come  to  China 
as  a  missionary  lest  he  should  not  live  out  half  his 
days,"  was  the  smiling  comment  of  one  wdio  was 
carrying  burdens  of  which  the  visitor  knew  little. 

Of  no  other  body  of  missionaries  in  China  is  it 
more  true  than  of  those  in  Hwai  Yuen,  that  they  are 
literally  wearing  themselves  out,  burning  themselves 
up  in  their  zeal  for  the  Lord's  work.  Every  one  of 
the  women  is  working  beyond  her  strength,  impelled 
by  the  spirit  of  Him  who  sat  by  the  well  of  Samaria, 
and  gave  the  water  of  life  to  a  thirsty  soul.  They 
try  to  be  careful,  but  the  guest-room  work  and  the 
Sunday  services  and  the  necessary  calls  from  women 
and  children  needing  their  help  and  the  natural  im- 
pulses which  drive  them  forward,  all  tend  to  make 
them  forget  their  promise  to  be  more  careful.  The 
men  are  not  suffering  probably  beyond  their  fellow 
missionaries  in  other  fields,  but  if  any  one,  friend 
or  critic,  wishes  to  find  a  "soft  snap"  in  life,  he 
would  better  remain  away  from  Hwai  Yuen  or  any 
other  mission  station. 

After  our  call  on  the  Fu  already  described,  we 
visited  the  Boys'  school.     One  of  the  men  in  the 

56 


picture  of  the  school  is  the  Rev.  J.  B.  Cochran,  al- 
though at  a  distance  it  is  somewhat  difficult  to  tell 
him  and  his  companions  from  real  Chinamen.  They 
wear  the  Chinese  costume  and  say  that  they  prefer 
it ;  if  the  queue  is  fastened  to  the  cap  and  not  to  the 
head,  that  is  a  detail  not  worth  mentioning.  While 
they  do  not  deceive  the  Chinese  when  near  at  hand. 


lpl]gp^ 

-mr'-- " 

te:v%^«^%«ifSje^'V 

M 

1 

IV 

One  of  the  Hwai  Yuen  Mission  Houses 


the  native  dress  is  doubtless  a  means  of  protection  to 
them  at  times.  Opinions  differ  as  to  the  practical 
value  of  this  conformity  to  the  customs  of  the  coun- 
try;  but  it  is  certainly  easier  to  keep  up  with  the 
styles. 

After  inspecting  the  school  which  seems  to  be 
doing  excellent  work,  we  went  to  the  hospital,  which 
has  a  reputation  throughout  the  province  and  far 
beyond  its  bounds.  The  testimony  of  people  who 
know  about  the  hospital  work  in  all  parts  of  the  Em- 


pire  places  Dr.  Cochran  amoi\2:  the  first  half-dozen 
physicians  in  Cliina.  And  this  place  he  has  made 
for  himself  amid  conditions  which  would  discourage 
many  men.  He  has  a  fine  collection  of  instruments 
and  he  has  had  many  major  operations,  but  he  needs 
rooms  for  consulting  patients,  and  performing  opera- 
tions and  a  ward  for  his  patients.  The  exorbitant 
prices  placed  upon  the  land  which  it  is  thought  they 
would  like  to  buy  have  been  practically  prohibitive 
so  far. 

Many  patients  are  troubled  with  a  peculiar  form 
of  eye-disease.  Through  neglect  partly  the  under 
lashes  of  one  or  both  eyes  turn  in  and  sweeping 
across  the  eye  ball  produce  suffering  which  can  be 
understood  in  a  slight  degree  by  those  who  have  had 
intense  pain  when  a  single  hair  or  speck  became 
lodged  under  the  lid.  By  a  slight  operation,  scarcely 
painful,  Dr.  Cochran  is  able  to  give  relief  and  to 
have  the  inverted  lid  resume  its  normal  position. 

While  the  patients  are  waiting  their  turn  to  see 
Dr.  Cochran,  his  brother  holds  a  religious  service. 

"You  talk  to  them  this  morning,"  said  the 
preacher,  "and  remember  that  they  know  nothing  of 
God,  as  w^e  understand  Him,  nothing  of  the  Bible  and 
nothing  therefore  of  the  Saviour  of  the  world." 
Perhaps  the  reader  of  this  paragraph  has  had  such 
an  experience  ;  the  writer  never  had.  In  many  years 
of  city  missionary  work,  he  had  never  seen  a  man 
who  did  not  know  about  God  and  His  Word.  In  a 
poor,  weak  way  an  attempt  was  made  to  follow  Paul 
in  Athens,  and  Mr.  Cochran  who  translated,  was 
careful  to  put  in  what  the  speaker  should  have  added 
to  make  his  meaning  plain.  This  was  meeting 
heathenism  in  the  rough,  and  whatever  fruit  comes 
from  the  seed  sown  that  day  I  am  perfectly  willing 

.       58 


should  be  counted  with  the  l)askets  that  the  Cochrans 
are  gathering  in  a  difficult,  but  most  hopeful,  field. 

In  the  afternoon,  with  ]\Tr.  Morris,  T  called  on  ]\Ir. 
Liu,  the  first  Christian  convert  in  Hwai  Yuen,  and 
then  rode  for  an  hour  in  our  chairs  about  the  streets 
of  the  city,  looking  over  the  field  that  seemed  more 
promising  to  the  young  and  enthusiastic  missionary 
than  to  the  traveler ;  it  was  home,  "our  people,"  to 
the  former. 

Mr.  Liu  is  the  leading  native  ph}sician  in  the  city. 
At  first  he  was  considered  the  most  hopeful  of  sev- 
eral inquirers,  but  the  missionaries  hesitated  to  bap- 
tize him  at  once,  knowing  how  serious  the  conse- 
cjuences  would  be  for  any  of  those  first  professing 
Christ's  nanie  to  prove  insincere.  The  many  prayers 
offered  for  him  have  been  heard.  Xot  only  do  the 
missionaries  report  that  he  is  standing  nobly,  taught 


Mr.  Liu,  the  Christian  Physician 
.59 


of  God's  Spirit  at  first  through  no  human  teacher. 
Prayers  are  asked  for  a  score  or  more  other  in- 
quirers whose  mixed  motives  in  seeking  to  identify 
themselves  with  the  cause  of  Christ  must  be  tested 
and  purified. 

An  interesting  proof  of  the  reality  of  Mr.  Liu's 
conversion  was  early  given  in  a  journey  with  Mr. 
Lobenstine,  to  call  on  a  Taoist  priest  on  the  top  of 
East  Mountain,  on  which  is  the  shrine  of  a  god  re- 
sorted to  when  a  family  is  without  a  coveted  son  and 
heir.  In  such  cases,  one  of  a  number  of  small  images 
which  surround  the  idol,  is  carried  to  the  home  of 
the  suppliant,  and,  when  the  prayer  has  been  an- 
swered, is  returned  with  additional  images.  All  his 
life  Mr.  Liu  has  been  afraid  to  go  on  this  mountain, 
though  living  at  its  foot,  for  he  was  a  son  thus  sent 
by  the  god,  and  his  parents  believed  that  if  he  ven- 
tured there  the  god  would  recognize  and  claim  him, 
and  he  would  die.  But  he  made  the  trip  at  his  own 
suggestion  and  without  betraying  the  slightest  fear, 
showing  how  complete  is  his  emancipation  from  the 
superstition  of  a  lifetime. 

Every  evening  the  missionaries  have  prayers  for 
the  benefit  of  the  Chinese  who  may  come  in,  Mr. 
Liu  always  attending.  In  winning  the  confidence 
of  the  people  of  Hwai  Yuen,  his  assistance  has  been 
invaluable.  Although  still  believing  in  the  efificacy 
of  his  Chinese  remedies,  dried  wasps,  powdered 
bones,  etc.,  and  very  busy  with  the  work  of  his  drug 
store,  he  has  freely  given  much  of  his  time  to  help 
the  missionaries,  consenting  to  speak  on  Sabbath 
days  when  needed,  and  doing  much  personal  work 
among  his  own  acquaintances.  When  friends  call 
on  him  the  little  back  room  back  of  his  store  is  often 
turned  into  a  kind  of  street  chapel,  where  the  con- 


versation  is  on  the  subject  of  the  new  rehgion  which 
the  foreigners  have  brought  to  the  city. 


Mr.  Liu's  Pharmacy  (On  .Sunday  It  Is  Closed) 


"Christian  Missions  started  zvith  one  hundred  and  tzcoity 
despised  Galileans.  No-n'  there  are  120,000,000  of  Protest- 
ants, who  have  in  tJieir  pozcer  nearly  all  the  resources  of  the 
world." 


61 


CHAPTER  IX 

A  Chinese  Feast 

T?OLLOWING  the  busy  day  of  sight-seeing  and 
"■■  study  of  the  problems  before  the  Central 
Church  missionaries,  already  described,  came  a  night 
of  feasting  that  beggars  description.  Two  other 
travelers  had  come  to  the  compound  since  morning — 
the  Rev.  Dr.  ]\Iacklin  and  Rev.  ]\Ir.  Corv,  mission- 


HwAi  Yuen  from  the  Hillside 

aries  from  Nanking,  who  had  been  farther  north 
prospecting  a  new  field  on  which  to  plant  a  mission 
for  the  Church  of  the  Disciples,  or  the  Christian 
Church,  as  it  is  popularly  termed.  They  had  been 
accompanied  by  Mr.  Lobenstine,  whose  itinerating 
field  lies  in  that  direction.  It  had  been  their  inten- 
tion to  push  on  toward  Nanking  on  Saturday,  but 

63 


finding-  another  American  at  Hwai  Yuen,  who  was 
to  go  over  tlie  road  the  next  week,  they  tarried  two 
days,  as  they  said  for  company,  but  as  he  knew  to 
make  the  journey  less  tedious  for  him. 

Being  members  of  the  mission  household  for  the 
time,  they  were  naturally  included  in  the  party  which 
sat  down  to  the  feast  in  the  home  of  the  Rev.  James 
B.  Cochran.  Imagine  the  scene  :  Eleven  Americans 
surrounding  a  table  unadorned  with  cloth,  china  or 
cutlery.  It  seemed  a  trifle  bare,  not  to  say  inhos- 
pitable, not  to  have  something  on  the  table  when  one 
was  invited  to  "sit  by."  Mrs.  Cochran  is  not  inhos- 
pitable, and  the  wisdom  of  her  foresight  appeared 
later.  Each  guest  had  a  little  bowl  and  a  pair  of  chop- 
sticks, but  what  can  a  man  do  with  chopsticks  who 
has  never  been  to  a  Chinese  feast !  The  only  thing 
possible  was  to  watch  his  neighbors.  Unfortunate 
is  it  for  him  if  he  be  the  guest  of  honor,  and  the 
neighbors  all  watch  him.  It  was  his  duty — it  became 
his  pleasure — to  "open"  every  dish.  As  it  was 
placed  in  the  center  of  the  table  he  reached  out  at 
arm's  length,  and  putting  his  chopsticks  into  the 
dish  took  out  whatever  he  hajbpened  to  catch.  To 
liken  the  process  to  a  fish  pond  in  a  church  fair  may 
not  have  a  missionary  sound,  but  the  process  resem- 
bled that  more  than  anything  else  with  wdiich  a  com- 
parison can  be  made. 

The  best  that  can  be  said  of  the  results  of  opening 
the  dishes  is  that  the  neighbors  were  very  appre- 
ciative of  the  maiden  eft'orts  of  the  stranger.  It 
would  not  be  quite  truthful  to  say  that  they  did  not 
laugh  at  his  breaks;  they  simply  joined  him  in 
laughing  at  his  own,  and  like  a  doting  parent,  or  a 
maiden  aunt  watching  a  child's  first  attempt  to  walk, 
whenever  they  saw  a  movement  that  was  not  posi- 

64 


tively  bad,  they  applauded  the  efforts  heartily,  and 
this  gave  coiirag-e  to  the  visitor.  His  efforts  to  get 
something  from  the  dish  to  his  little  bowl  without 
dropping  more  on  the  table  than  he  succeeded  in 
landing  occupied  his  attention  so  much  that  he  does 
not  know  what  happened  to  the  rest  of  the  people, 
except  that  each  one  of  the  other  ten  diners  put  his 
or  her  chopsticks  into  the  same  dish  where  his  had 
gone,  and  into  each  succeeding  dish  for  the  two 
hours  or  more  that  the  servants  kept  bringing  on 
new  dishes. 

An  eft"ort  was  made  to  get  a  list  of  the  dishes 
which  the  caterer  served,  but  the  types  could  not 
carry  the  names.  AMiile  the  chief  guest  was  obliged 
by  custom  to  eat  from  every  dish,  he  has  a  sus- 
picion that  some  of  the  party  were  not  so'  conscien- 
tious. When  the  chopsticks  brought  up  a  piece  of 
fat  pork,  it  was  observed  that  some  of  the  ladies 
made  a  feint  of  follow'ing  the  example  wdiicli  he  set, 
but  only  gravy  \vas  seen  on  the  chopsticks,  and  that 
did  not.  all  remain  on 'the  journey. 

In  fact,  after  a  half  an  hour  or  more,  one  could 
trace  without  a  map  the  direction  which  the  food  had 
taken  to  the  several  guests  by  little  rivulets  of  soup, 
gravy  and  other  articles  which  had  fallen  from  the 
chopsticks  on  the  way.  As  it  w^as  a  real  Chinese 
feast,  not  a  ^lott  Street  make  believe  affair,  occa- 
sionally a  bone  was  dropped  on  the  floor,  not  through 
accident,  but  in  order  not  to  oft'end  the  proprieties 
of  the  occasion. 

The  Chinese  are  extremely  courteous  in  their 
feasts,  and  when  they  have  a  choice  bit  which  they 
are  enjoying  greatly,  they  are  apt  to  divide  it  with 
their  nearest  neighbor.  One  of  the  missionary  trav- 
elers, wishing  to  imitate  this  custom  among  the  na- 

65 


tives,  shared  liis  j^ortion  with  the  writer,  using  his 
own  chopsticks  in  doing-  so.  It  is  not  quite  fair  to 
say  that  the  dehcacy  was  enjoyed  more  than  it  would 
have  been  if  it  had  come  in  some  other  way,  but 
when  the  recipient  found  tliat  his  own  piece  of  pork 
was  larger  than  he  had  expected  to  get,  it  seemed  too 
bad  not  to  let  the  generous  neighbor  share  his  tidbit. 
The  pork  was  swallowed  without  a  protest,  but  the 
look  which  the  friend  gave  as  he  received  the  return 
favor  was  not  calculated  to  warrant  a  second  helping 
from  either  side. 

A  Chinese  feast  is  the  one  thing  that  no  traveler 
in  China  should  miss.  Old  residents  say  that  they 
enjoy  Chinese  feasts  ;  old  residents  never  prevaricate, 
especially  wdien  they  are  sent  out  from  a  New  York 
church,  but  it  would  be  worth  a  penny  to  have  a 
definition  of  the  term  "enjoyment"  when  speaking 
of  this  method  of  dining.  Feasting  in  China  is  some- 
thing like  tobogganing  in  Canada ;  after  the  first 
efifort  one  says  that  he  would  not  have  missed  that 
one  for  a  good  deal,  nor  is  he  in  a  hurry  to  take 
another.  Later  wdien  one  has  become  accustomed 
to  the  sport,  nothing  ever  quite  takes  its  place.  This 
is  said  in  defense  of  the  missionaries  who  declare  that 
they  enjoy  Chinese  feasts.  Certainly  this  was  the 
treat  of  my  months  in  China.  The  memory  of  this 
night  in  Hwai  Yuen  will  be  among  the  most  lasting 
of  those  spent  in  the  Flowery  Kingdom. 


"To  Clirisfianify  this  is  prccniiuciifly  flic  age  of  oppor- 
tunity. NcTcr  before  did  the  -a'orld  offer  aiiyflii)ig  lilce  the 
same  open  field  as  at  tliis  nioment." 


CHAPTER  X 


The  Sabrath  Services 


npHE  word  "Hwai"  means  "to  love,''  and  "Yuen" 

"far  away,"  so  that  together  they  read,  "The 

citv  which  those  who  are  far  awav  love,"  and  the 


The  Central  Presbyterian  Church  of  Hwai  Yuen 


truth  of  that  sentiment  is  recognized  both  by  the 
missionaries  in  Hwai  Yuen  and  by  the  noble 
Church  in  New  York,  which  stands  so  loyally  behind 
them.  It  was  a  pleasure  to  worship  with  the  work- 
er 


ers  and  their  people,  and  as  usual  the  visitor  was 
invited  to  preach. 

"You  do  not  know  how  good  it  is  to  hear  a  ser- 
mon in  English  again,"  said  one  of  the  ladies.  ''I 
have  not  heard  one  before  in  a  long  time."  A  few 
Chinese  women  sat  apart  froni  the  men,  who  filled 
the  main  room,  stood  in  the  doorway  and  in  the 
vard,  pressing  as  close  as  possible  to  the  window. 
Dr.  Macklin  had  been  asked  to  interpret,  and  from 
the  lenQth  of  time  taken  and  the  number  of  words 
used  in  explaining  a  sentence  or  paragraph,  left  the 
impression  that  he  gave  the  people  a  free  translation 
of  my  sermon.  I  was  told  that  if  one  had  translated 
his  translation  back  into  English,  it  would  have 
made  a  manuscript  twice  as  large  as  the  original 
would  have  been.  Chinese  stories  and  proverbs  and 
local  incidents  were  interwoven  with  a  master  hand 
in  the  simple  tale  which  I  carried  concerning  the 
Saviour  of  men. 

After  I  had  been  speaking  for  perhaps  twenty 
minutes  one  of  the  Chinamen  attracted  the  attention 
of  Mr.  Cochran,  who  stood  near  the  door,  and  said, 
"I  believe  that  fellow"  (pointing  to  the  interpreter) 
"knows  what  that  other  fellow"  (pointing  to  the 
preacher)  "is  talking  about ;"  the  translation  was 
therefore  suggestive  at  least. 

Two  peculiarities  struck  one  in  the  service.  It 
was  so  cold  that  both  the  preacher  and  the  inter- 
preter were  obliged  to  wear  overcoats,  and  I  was 
told  to  keep  mine  buttoned  all  the  way  down,  it 
being  considered  a  breach  of  etiquette  to  appear  in 
public  with  a  single  button  displaced.  In  summariz- 
ing my  address  I  used  my  fingers  to  emphasize  the 
points,  and  said,  placing  the  thumb  and  finger  of  the 
left  hand  on  the  little  finger  of  the  right : 


"Jesus  is  our  example  in — " 

''Use  your  thumb,"  said  the  interpreter  in  an  aside. 
Of  course,  the  command  was  obeyed  without  ques- 
tion, but  later  I  was  curious  to  know  why  I  could 
not  begin  the  enumeration  with  the  little  finger.  The 
answer  was  conclusive : 

''The  little  finger  is  a  sign  of  indignity,  and  when- 
ever you  refer  to  the  Deity  you  should  use  your 
thumb."  This  suggestion  is  thrown  out  for  the  use 
of  theological  students  who  are  fitting  themselves  to 
become  missionaries  in  China. 

The  audience  was  attentive  to  Dr.  INIacklin's  ad- 
dress for  which  I  had  provided  the  headings,  and  in 
the  afternoon  the  missionary  gave  an  address  in 
which  he  used  his  own  points,  and  this  was  indeed 
a  treat  for  the  people,  as  he  was  not  hanVpered  with 
foreign  ideas. 

At  the  time  of  this  service  there  was  one  in  the 
Guest  Room  for  Chinese  women  and  children,  in 
which  all  of  its  missionary  ladies  took  part.  While 
these  services  were  in  session  Mr.  Morris  and  the 
writer  climbed  the  hill  back  of  the  city,  and  looked 
down  upon  the  work  which  lay  close  at  hand,  and 
across  the  plain  where  the  missionaries  have  their 
itinerating  tours.  With  the  exception  of  the  high 
rocky  hill,  called  the  \\'est  Mountain,  and  the  East 
Mountain,  across  the  Hwai  River,  a  vast  plain 
stretches  out  in  every  direction.  The  city  is  in  one 
of  the  most  fertile  and  densely  populated  parts  of  the 
Province  of  An-hui.  Hundreds  of  villages  and  ham- 
lets are  scattered  all  over  the  province.  To  say  that 
there  are  hundreds  in  sight  may  seem  extravagant  to 
one  who  has  not  been  in  China,  but  in  the  section 
north  and  east,  between  the  Ko  and  Hwai  Rivers 
alone,  ]Vlr.  Lobenstine  counted,  on  a  hazy  day,  three 


Inindred  and  fifty  villages  and  hamlets.  This  will 
give  some  idea  of  the  village  population  that  can  be 
reached  from  Hwai  Yuen  as  a  center. 

''Nor  is  there,"  he  says,  "any  kind  of  work  in 
China  to-day  that  has  greater  promise  of  success. 
The  country  people,  though  poorer  and  less  well 
educated  even  than  those  in  the  cities,  are  simpler 
and  more  sincere,  and,  especially  in  the  North,  are 
good  material  to  work  on.  And  one  could  scarcely 
find  a  better  center  for  one's  operations  than  Hwai 
Yuen.  It  is  the  county  seat  (the  Hsien  City),  and 
at  some  time  during  the  year  every  farmer  for  miles 
around  must  come  in  here  to  sell  his  produce.  The 
roads  all  converging  toward  the  city,  and  there  is 
constant  coming  and  going,  so  that  hundreds  of 
the  villages  can  be  reached  without  going  into  the 
country  at  all.  Moreover,  the  city  is  large  enough  to 
give  us  plenty  to  do  right  here,  and  besides  it  there 
are  within  a  radius  of  sixty  miles  no  less  than  eight 
walled  cities  in  which  there  is  no  prospect  of  any 
other  mission  starting  work,  and  which  is  naturally 
counted  as  belonging  to  our  field.  Resides  all  this 
there  is  a  large  boat  population  that  can  be  reached. 
'The  harvest  truly  is  plenteous,  liut  the  laborers  are 
few.'  " 

It  was  upon  such  a  scene  that  we  looked  as  the 
missionary  told  of  some  of  the  work  accomplished 
in  the  short  time  that  they  had  been  there,  and  un- 
folded their  plans  for  the  future,  which  will,  doubt- 
less, be  realized  if  life  and  health  are  spared.  The 
hour  was  too  sacred  for  much  of  the  conversation  to 
be  repeated.  In  a  little  while,  other  members  of  the 
Mission  joined  us,  and  together  we  talked  of  the 
friends  in  the  Homeland,  and  the  joys  of  the  field 
in  which  these  devoted  people  are  giving  their  lives. 

70 


It  was  practically  impossible  for  the  writer  to  learn 
anything  about  the  discouragements,  but  in  a  per- 
sonal statement  which  one  of  them  has  made  to  his 
home  friends,  I  find  that  the  only  discouragement 
which  ever  enters  their  lives  is  the  fear  lest  they 
shall  not  stand  loyal  to  Him  whom  they  represent. 
From  a  letter  I  quote  these  sentences  : 

"The  downpuU  of  our  environment  here  is  tre- 
mendous, and  the  danger  arises  out  of  the  very  grad- 
ual way  in  which  one's  ideas  and  ideals  are  in  dan- 
ger of  lowering  and  of  adapting  themselves  to  those 
of  the  Chinese.  It  is  largely,  if  not  entirely,  uncon- 
scious, yet  I  believe  a  real  danger,  and  nothing  can 
save  a  man  from  it  but  a  constant,  daily  sense  of  the 
nearness  of  Christ.  Faith  is  our  only  weapon,  or  at 
least  is  essential  to  efficient  use  of  any  weapon  we 
have,  and  it  needs  constantly  to  be  fed,  else  it  grows 
weaker.  We  need  more  faith  ;  faith  in  God's  love, 
■His  wisdom,  His  power  to  redeem  the  most  de- 
graded, and  to  work  mightily  even  through  weak, 
human  instrumentalities.  And  faith  is  a  growth  for 
the  missionary  as  for  every  other  man.  Pray  for  us 
that  we  mav  all  be  men  of  faith." 


"TJicrc  is  no  near  and  no  far.  but  just  one  roitnd  leorld  of 
lost  and  perisliing  souls  to  be  reseued  and  saz'ed  through  the 
world's  Christ." 


CHAPTER  XI 


Hardships  and  Trials 


"IVyTUCH  is  said  by  the  missionaries  in  general  and 
■^  especially  by  those  at  Hwai  Yuen,  regarding 

the  joys  of  their  work,  their  freedom  from  suffering 
and  their  pleasure  in  the  service  to  which  they  have 


THE  Missionary  Family 

given  their  lives,  but  very  little  is  known,  except  by 
intimate  friends,  concerning  hardships  to  which  they 
and  other  missionaries  are  subjected.  The  following 
touching  incident  is  illustrative  of  this  feature  of 
missionary  life  of  which  nothing  is  heard  in  public 
meetings  and  little  in  private  conversation : 

In  October,  1902,  the  fall  before  I  reached  Hwai 


Yuen,  under  Dr.  Cochran's  escort,  the  Cochran  ladies 
with  their  three  children,  and  a  quantity  of  furniture 
and  supplies,  emharked  at  Nanking  in  two  house 
boats  for  the  slow  journey  to  Hwai  Yuen.  They  had 
with  them  a  Bible  w^oman  and  also  some  native  ser- 
vants. Caught  in  the  jam  of  hundreds  of  boats  on 
the  Grand  Canal,  until  their  drinking  water  became 
infected,  despite  every  precaution,  little  Henry 
Cochran  was  stricken  with  dysentery.  A  haven  of 
refuge  was  found  in  the  city  of  Ching  Kiang  Pu  with 
noble  missionaries  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  South,, 
the  Woods  brothers,  the  Grahams  and  the  Rices, 
The  resources  of  Dr.  Wood's  hospital  and  of  all  the 
missionary  homes  were  proffered  with  the  most  gen- 
erous courtesy,  and  the  father,  the  Rev.  James  B. 
Cochran,  was  summoned  from  Plwai  Yuen,  arriving 
in  ten  days.  P^or  twenty-four  da}s  the  splendid  con- 
stitution of  the  little  sufferer  resisted  the  disease. 
But  all  that  Dr.  Cochran  and  the  others  could  do  was 
vain,  and  on  November  19,  the  struggle  ended,  and 
the  spirit  of  the  little  boy  went  home  to  God  who 
gave  it. 

Outside  of  the  city,  in  a  small  bamboo-fenced  plot, 
hallowed  by  the  previous  burial  of  a  little  daughter 
of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Graham,  the  grief-stricken  parents 
laid  away  the  body  of  their  firstborn ;  sorrowing  not 
as  those  without  hope,  but  glorifying  God  in  the  fires 
through  which  they  passed  accompanied  by  a  form 
like  unto  the  Son  of  God. 

It  seems  almost  profane  to  add  a  remark  of  one  of 
the  grief-stricken  ])arents  as  the  form  of  their  dear 
child,  unusually  bright  and  promising,  was  laid  away 
to  await  the  coming  dawn,  but  it  is  typical  of  the 
spirit  of  these  consecrated  workers : 

"We  have  taucrht  our  little  Harrv  that  he  should 


accept  our  will  as  his  for  the  present  at  least,  and  he 
has  done  so.  Shall  we  not  in  the  same  childlike 
spirit  accept  our  Father's  will  without  question  now, 
waiting  until  He  shall  make  clear  the  mystery  of  this 
dark  hour?" 

The  next  morning  the  tedious  journey  was  re- 
sumed, and  after  many  delays  Hwai  Yuen  was  finally 
reached  on  December  11,  nearly  two  months  after 
leaving  Nanking.  "From  the  broken  home  circle 
there  we  may  well  imagine  a  summons  and  appeal 
echoing  out  like  the  message  which  the  bereaved 
Krapf  sent  from  East  Africa ;  that  since  the  home 
friends  now  possess  on  foreign  soil  a  lonely  mission- 
ary grave,  it  shall  be  deemed  a  sign  that  territory  is 
preempted  from  which  there  can  be  no  retreat,  and 
that  the  struggle  is  indeed  begun  which  can  have  but 
one  end,"  writes  one  who  is  aiding  in  making  that 
struggle  a  victorious  one. 

Regarding  the  matter  of  providing  permanent 
homes  for  the  missionaries  which  shall  be  comforta- 


HiLLSiDE  Temple  Near  Hwai  Yuen 
75 


ble  and  hyi^-icnic,  within  a  ])r()])cr]y  walled  enclosure, 
the  followino-  statement  from  a  well  known  business 
man  is  illustrative  of  the  spirit  of  the  people  in  the 
Central  Church  in  Xew  York  : 

''Then  as  for  the  workers  in  China ;  I  am  for 
properly  housing-  these  noble  men  and  women — not 
only  our  ])rivileg"e  but  our  duty  ;  there  is  a  responsi- 
bility here  wdiich  we  must  not  dodge.  Call  on  me  to 
help  when  you  are  ready." 

From  the  first  the  Hwai  Yuen  officials  have 
showed  great  friendliness,  calling  upon  them  early 
and  inviting  them  to  a  feast,  and  the  people  of  the 
city  were  not  slow  to  follow  their  example.  The 
missionaries  early  decided  to  supply  guest  room  op- 
portunities, and  all  classes  of  men  visited  the  guest 
room,  many  coming  purely  from  curiosity  and  some 
so  suspicious  as  to  refuse  to  taste  the  proffered  tea 
lest  it  be  poisoned. 

Occasionally,  however,  it  was  a  surprise  to  receive 
guests  well-informed  about  foreign  countries,  who 
seemed  to  understand  the  motive  of  the  missionaries 
in  going  to  China.  One  well-to-do  farmer,  who 
lived  quite  a  distance  out  in  the  country,  but  who  has 
spent  his  life  in  study,  opened  the  conversation  by 
remarking  that  he  was  a  great  admirer  of  Abraham 
Lincoln !  He  talked  at  some  length  upon  American 
history,  and  also  showed  a  surprising  knowledge  of 
France  and  other  countries.  Such  nien  are  rare,  but 
once  won  for  Christ  they  have  great  influence  in  win- 
ning others.  ''On  any  day,"  says  a  worker,  "the  man 
may  step  into  our  little  reception  room  who  shall 
prove,  under  God,  the  agent  for  turning  great  num- 
bers of  his  countrymen  to  righteousness.  If  China 
is  to  be  saved  by  the  Chinese,  as  w^e  believe,  how 
such  possibilities  as  this  summon  the  Central  Church 

76 


to  prayer.''  During  tlic  "fifth  moon"  feast,  one 
June,  the  occasion  of  the  greatest  idol  procession  in 
the  province,  from  three  hundred  and  fifty  to  five 
hundred  visitors  came  daily,  and  on  one  day  no  less 
than  one  thousand  five  hundred,  to  whom  the  mis- 
sionaries preached  the  (iospel  literally  ''from  the 
rising  of  the  morning  till  the  stars  appeared." 


Three  Barbarians  from  the  Regions  Beyond  (New  York) 


Hwai  Yuen  contains  an  unusually  large  propor- 
tion of  scholars ;  men  who  have  taken  at  least  the 
first  degree,  corresponding,  roughly  speaking,  to  our 
B.  A.  In  former  days  this  was  the  class  with  whom 
it  was  most  difficult  for  the  missionaries  to  gain  a 
hearing.  But  owing,  no  doubt,  to  the  imperial  edicts 
requiring  examinations  in  certain  branches  of  West- 
ern learning,  as  for  instance  arithmetic,  these  in- 
fluential citizens  were  foremost  in  cultivating  the 
new  comers,  and  the  missionaries  found  themselves 
greatly  in  need  of  Divine  guidance  that  they  might 
discern  the  real  motives  of  applicants  for  baptism, 


lest  this  popularit}'  slioiild  prove  a  hindrance  instead 
of  a  help  to  the  g-cnuine  progress  of  their  work. 

Notwithstanding  this  friendly  attitude  of  the  more 
progressive,  great  care  has  heen  necessary  to  avoid 
arousing  the  prejudices  of  the  community.  For 
example,  the  missionaries  very  early  found  it  ex- 
pedient to  give  up  their  twilight  strolls  on  the  moun- 
tain side,  on  account  of  the  rumor  that  their  purpose 
was  to  find  gold  and  jewels,  which  they  were  able  to 
find  helow  the  surface  and  compel  by  their  spells  to 
come  forth  and  follow  them  to  their  homes. 

While  the  officials  have  been  friendly,  it  must  not 
be  understood  that  all  the  people  have  learned  to 
understand  the  object  of  the  missionaries'  presence 
in  the  province,  and  a  short  time  before  my  visit  an 
incendiary  fire  was  started,  which  burned  down  the 
cow  house  and  endangered  the  residences  of  the 
missionaries  themselves.  This  was  followed  by 
placards  written  by  the  incendiaries,  urging  the  peo- 
ple to  drive  out  the  missionaries  and  attacking  the 
friendly  officials.  The  populace,  however,  failed  to 
respond,  but  continued  to  treat  the  Americans  with 
customary  toleration,  while  the  officials  took  inime- 
diate  steps  to  protect  them,  removing  the  placards, 
posting  counter  notices  and  agreeing  by  way  of  com- 
pensation to  erect  a  wall  around  the  unprotected  part 
of  the  property. 


CHAPTER  XII 

pAREWErX  TO  THE  MlSSIOXAUIES 

CjUNDAY    evening-    was    spent    in    Mr.    Morris's 

rooms.     All  of  the  missionaries,   except  Miss 

Hoffman,    the    three    travelers    and    several    native 


Gateway  to  Street  where  Missionaries  Lived 


Christians,  gathered  for  a  song  service.  It  was  a 
precious  hour,  and  one  that  will  long  be  treasured  in 
memory.  After  aw^hile  Mr.  Lobenstine  excused 
himself.  The  following  day  the  Nanking  mission- 
aries commented  upon  the  absence  of  one  of  the 
party  and  the  disappearance  of  the  other,  and  one  of 
them  expressed  his  v.onder  whether  there  was  ''any- 
thing up."  The  others  thought  it  improbable  but 
not  impossible. 

As  I  had  been  entrusterl  on  Sundav  afternoon  with 


a  secret  so  profound  that  no  one  in  China  was  to 
know  it  for  ten  da}-s,  I  was  in  doul)t  what  to  do.  To 
smile  would  hetra)-  though  no  words  were  said ;  I 
could  not  prevaricate  if  T  were  questioned,  so  I 
urged  my  mule  ahead  and  flung  back  over  my  shoul- 
der a  general  remark  to  the  effect  that  Miss  Hoff- 
man had  told  me  that  she  had  to  write  a  home  letter 
in  order  to  catch  the  mail,  and  that  I  had  heard  Mr. 
Lobenstine  say  something  about  having  a  headache ; 
I  did  not  think  it  prudent  to  prolong  the  conversa- 
tion, and  the  unsuspecting  men  were  easily  diverted 
into  a  discussion  of  the  doctrinal  differences  be- 
tween the  Disciples  and  the  Presbyterians — but 
wasn't  I  glad  when  the  ten  days  were  passed  and  I 
could  say : 

''Have  you  heard  the  good  news  from  Hwai 
Yuen  ?" 

"Is  Miss  Hoft'man  going  to  marr}  Mr.  Loben- 
stine?" was  the  invariable  answer. 

Monday  morning  the  pack  mules  and  donkeys 
were  started  off  before  light,  and  after  an  early 
breakfast,  the  travelers  leading  their  riding  animals, 
gathered  at  the  gate  of  the  little  street  leading  to  the 
compound  to  say  good-by  to  one  of  the  bravest  bands 
of  people  that  the  sun  shines  on.  Dr.  Smith  was 
right  in  commending  them  as  he  did. 

An  acquaintance  of  three  days  had  formed  a 
friendship  that  will  endure  forever ;  a  brief  visit,  so 
far  as  time  was  concerned,  had  given  an  insight  into 
mission  problems  as  they  are  found  and  met  at  one 
station  that  years  of  study  of  books  could  not  equal, 
and  an  admiration  for  the  missionary  pioneers  in  this 
far-away  Chinese  city  had  been  gained  that  it  will  be 
pleasant  always  to  recall. 

One  Frida>'  afternoon  the  people  in  the  little  com- 

80 


A  Wheelbarrow  Family.    Father,  Mother  and  Sons 
Going  to  Market 


pound  on  the  hillside  were  simply  a  company  of 
Americans  whom  I  had  traveled  two  hundred  miles 
by  steamer  and  a  hundred  and  fifty  miles  on  mule- 
back  to  visit;  the  next  Alonday  morning  they  were 
friends  whom  it  seemed  to  me  I  had  known  since 
childhood.  The  luncheon  basket  which  ]\Irs.  Drum- 
mond,  of  Xanking,  had  packed  the  week  before  was 
repacked  by  the  four  ladies  at  Hwai  Yuen,  but  it 


was  designed  now  for  three  travelers  instead  of  one. 
Dr.  ]\Iacklin  and  Mr.  Cory,  as  well  as  the  w^riter  were 
to  l3e  thought  of ;  it  seemed  a  bit  selfish  to  take  away 
even  a  meal  from  that  station,  so  far  removed  from 
the  ports — four  hundred  miles  by  water  from  stores 
where  English  or  American  goods  could  be  secured, 
but  hunger  knows  no  compassion,  and  apparently  the 
hospitality  of  the  missionaries  knows  no  bounds. 

The  journey  back  to  Nanking  occupied  four  days 
and  was  without  special  incident.  It  was  a  relief  in- 
deed to  have  as  traveling  companions  two  Americans 
who  knew  the  Chinese  language  and  were  able  to 
deal  wnth  Lao  as  well  as  the  inn-keepers.  Dr. 
Alacklin  said  that  in  an  experience  of  twenty  years 
with  the  Chinese,  he  had  never  met  one  so  unpleasant 
as  my  muleteer — a  mixture  of  craven  and  fiend.  At 
Feng- Yang  Fu,  where  I  had  been  in  a  mob  on  the 
journey  alone,  the  Mayor  sent  a  squad  of  soldiers  to 
guard  us,  while  we  were  in  the  city.  Here  again  we 
had  to  sleep  in  the  stable  because  the  inns  w^ere  full, 
and  here  again  as  before  the  Bethlehem  Babe  seemed 
very  near  as  we  lay  within  ten  feet  of  the  mules  and 
donkeys,  but  this  is  an  experience,  as  I  learned,  not 
at  all  uncommon  to  the  missionaries  ;  nor  are  many 
of  the  inns  a  great  improvement  over  this  one.  Mr. 
Morris,  in  relating  a  typical  experience  in  an  inn  on 
one  of  his  itinerating  trips,  says : 

''That  night  it  turned  suddenly  cold,  and  we  had 
hard  work  to  keep  warm.  In  this  inn  the  pigs,  two 
big  black  fellows,  slept  under  the  bed.  We  couldn't 
see  them,  but  we  heard  them  grunting,  and  when  we 
remonstrated  with  the  landlady,  she  simply  said : 

"  'Oh,  that's  w^here  they  always  sleep.' 

"Tradition  is  everything  in  this  land.  There  were 
eight  or  ten  other  men  sleeping  in  the  same  room, 

82 


and  they  were  all  naturally  interested  in  me,  the 
foreigner.  We  had  preached  to  them  and  were  tired 
and  ready  for  bed.  There  was  no  door  and  the  place 
was  so  crowded  that  I  was  forced  to  sleep  almost  in 
the  doorway.  I  blew  out  the  lantern  T  had  with  me, 
thinking  the  curiosity  seekers  might  take,  the  hint, 
but  there  was  still  a  small  Chinese  lamp  burning,  and 
this  kept  the  crowd  around.  They  examined  my 
blanket  and  watched  me  blow  up  my  air  pillow,  and 
gazed  and  gazed.  I  determined  to  retire  quietly, 
which  I  proceeded  to  do,  but  when  it  came  to  my 
hat  I  was  bound  the  crowd  shouldn't  see  that  I  was 
wearing  a  false  queue,  so  I  jumped  into  bed  with  my 
hat  on,  much  to  the  amusement  of  the  helpers,  who 
knew  my  reasons.  The  wind  blew  through  the  door, 
so  that  I  had  to  use  my  pillow  as  a  kind  of  break- 
water. This,  however,  was  a  small  annoyance  com- 
pared to  a  certain  rooster.  I  didn't  object  to  his 
being  a  rooster,  nor  to  his  being  in  the  same  room 
with  me,  but  that  rooster  insisted  on  crowing  all 
night,  at  intervals  of  about  twenty  minutes !  That 
place  will  always  have  tender  associations  for  me." 

It  cost  no  little  wrench  to  start  away  from  Hwai 
Yuen  and  leave  the  dear  friends  behind ;  how  I 
should  like  to  have  remained  and  worked  with  them. 
Xot  that  other  fields  in  China,  and  Korea,  and  Japan 
and  the  Philippines,  did  not  appeal  with  tremendous 
force  to  one  who  had  expected  to  be  a  foreign  mis- 
sionary, but  the  hardness  of  this  field,  its  distance 
from  civilization,  its  special  opportunities,  its  pioneer 
character,  its  remoteness  from  other  missions  of 
every  name,  the  exceptionally  beautiful  spirit  mani- 
fested by  the  Cochrans,  the  Lobenstines,  Aliss  Hoff- 
man and  ]\rr.  ]\ [orris,  and  the  ideal  relation  between 
these  eip'ht  workers,  the  members  of  a  sing^le  church 


in  the  homeland — all  this  cumbincd  to  set  this  apart 
from  most  other  fields  as  one  in  which  I  would  like 
to  cast  in  my  fortune  if  I  were  going  to  remain  in 
Asia. 

Mr.  Moody  loved  to  tell  of  a  Boston  fireman  on  a 
ladder  trying  to  rescue  a  woman  from  a  burning 
building.  It  seemed  impossible  for  him  to  reach  her. 
The  great  crowd  in  the  street  stood  speechless. 
Finally  a  man  shouted  : 

"If  we  cannot  help  him,  let  us  at  least  give  him  a 
cheer." 

As  the  mighty  shout  rang  out  the  brave  fellow  re- 
doubled his  efforts  and  the  life  was  saved.  If  I  can 
do  nothing  else  for  these  missionary  heroes  in  China 
and  other  countries,  I  am  determined  at  least  to  2:ive 
them  the  deserved  word  of  cheer. 


84 


CHAPTER  XIII 
The  Other  Side  of  the  Picture 


44  T    TPIINK  we  would  better  write  you  up,  in- 
stead of  your  writing  us  up,"  said  Miss 
Hoffman.     "Your  trip  shows  more  pluck  than  we 


A  Chinese  Lady  Traveling 


display,  for  we  are  able  to  speak  the  langTiage,  while 
you  have  come  across  without  eveu  an  English- 
speakino-  Chinaman.'' 

"Another  illustration  of  the  proverb  which  speaks 
of  the  caution  displayed  by  angels,"  was  the  meek 
reply. 

"Well,  I  think  you  deserve  a  letter,  and  when  you 
reach  home  you  may  find  one."  A  few  months  later 
a  letter  found  its  way  through  a  mutual  friend  into 
the  traveler's  hands,  which  is  too  kind  by  half.  And 
although  it  was  never  intended  for  his  eyes  much 
less  for  publication,  it  seems  a  fitting  ending  to  the 
story  of  a  delightful,  though  somewhat  hard,  over- 
land journey  on  a  Chinese  mule.  In  her  letter,  Miss 
Hofifman,  now  Mrs.  Lobenstine,  says  : 

"The  next  great  excitement  at  Hwai  Yuen  was  the 
arrival  of  the  Rev.  John  Bancroft  Devins,  D.  D..  the 
Editor  of  The  New  York  Observer.  Dr.  Devins  is 
taking  a  trip  around  the  world,  and  one  of  the  places 
which  he  wanted  most  to  see,  he  was  kind  enough 
to  say,  was  Hwai  Yuen.  He  is  going  to  write  us  up 
for  The  Observer,  I  believe,  but  I  feel  sure  that  the 
Home  People  would  far  rather  hear  of  his  own  ex- 
perience.   As  the  Chinese  say : 

"  'He  ate  considerable  bitterness' 
in  the  process  of  getting  here.  Imagine  a  foreigner 
if  you  can,  without  any  knowldge  of  these  people  or 
their  language,  attempting  an  interior  trip  with  no 
other  companionship  than  that  of  a  Chinese  servant 
who  did  not  even  know  'pidgeon'  English.  With  no 
one  to  make  the  rough  places  smooth,  with  no  one  to 
tell  him  that  the  excited  voices  of  the  people  did  not 
indicate  that  the  people  themselves  were  excited ; 
they  were  simply  good  natured ;  traveling  on  a  mule 
and  traveling   hard,   covering   the   ground   rapidly ; 


sleeping  in  dirt}'  inns,  his  lied  a  bundle  of  straw  on 
the  dirty  floor,  makino-  his  wants  known  by  sign 
language !  With  a  muleteer  who  did  not  want  to 
go  after  four  o'elock,  and  had  to  be  made  to  go ; 
getting  to  one  place  in  the  night  and  finding  no 
room  in  the  inn,  having  to  go  to  the  stable  and  sleep 
with  the  mules,  which,  while  not  an  unusual  ex- 
perience to  the  missionary,  is  pretty  hard  on  a  man 
fresh  from  home  and  its  comforts ! 

"He  told  us  that  when  he  wanted  the  man  to  cook 
a  chicken  for  supper  he  had  to  crow  like  a  cock  to 
make  him  understand.  One  night  he  was  too  tired 
to  eat  the  food  when  it  was  prepared.  At  Feng  Yang 
Fu,  which  is  very  anti-foreign,  he  was  surrounded 
by  a  crowd  of  men,  among  whom  were  many  sol- 
diers, and  had  his  hat  nearly  knocked  off  by  the  small 
mob  that  collected.  It  was  late,  and  as  no  animals 
are  kept  at  the  inns  within  the  city,  he  slept  without 
the  wall  in  company  with  his  mules. 

"The  next  afternoon  he  came  to  us,  tired  but 
cheejfful,  and  glad  to  be  here,  making  light,  in  a 
measure,  of  his  hardships.  It  was  good  to  see  him 
and  to  know  that  he  had  seen  some  of  the  friends 
at  home,  and  before  he  left  we  were  glad  to  know 
him,  even  for  so  short  a  time,  for  his  own  sake.  We 
admired  him  for  his  courage,  for  his  readiness  to 
meet  the  hard  things  more  than  half  wa}-  and  to  meet 
them  with  a  smile ;  we  loved  him  for  the  glimpse 
we  caught  of  the  sweetness  and  depth  of  sympathy 
which  was  behind  his  strength. 

"Our  work  is  not  the  kind  that  shows  off"  par- 
ticularly, but  w^hat  there  was  to  see  we  gladly  showed 
him.  He  went  to  the  hospital  and  to  the  school, 
where  he  talked  to  the  boys  through  an  interpreter ; 
he  saw  something"  of  the  citv  and  of  our  beautiful 


mountain  and  the  snrroundini^-  country,  and  met 
some  of  the  Christians.  He  was  much  interested 
in  Mr.  Liu.  I  1)eHeve.  That  Friday  evening  we  all 
met  for  a  little  social  evening-  together,  and  when  he 
went  to  rest  I  fancy  he  never  was  so  grateful  before 
for  a  good,  soft,  comfortable  bed.  Saturday  he  was 
busy  going  about,  and  also  called  on  the  Fu,  so  that 
he  caught  a  glimpse  of  official  life  and  saw  the  chief 
magistrate  in  some  of  his  finery. 

''Mr.  and  IMrs.  James  Cochran  gave  Dr.  Devins 
the  treat  of  his  life,  T  am  sure,  for  they  called  in 
Chinese  caterers  and  gave  him  a  genuine  Chinese 
feast  on  Saturday  night.  We  do  not  usually  spend 
Saturday  nights  in  such  orgies,  but  this  was  an  ex- 
ceptional case,  and  we  know^  it  was  no\v  or  never  for 
the  doctor  to  become  acquainted  with  life  in  the  in- 
terior. It  was  a  good  feast,  and  I  know  he  was  im- 
pressed with  it,  for  I  sat  next  to  him  and  heard  him 
sigh  a  very  full  sigh  when  the  feast  was  but  quarter 
through.  You  ought  to  have  seen  the  ease  wdth 
which  he  handled  the  chopsticks,  and  his  readiness 
to  venture  on  anything  and  everything.  He  said  it 
was  his  opportunity  and  that  he  must  see  it  through. 
He  said  he  came  to  learn  all  he  could  and  he  cer- 
tainly did.  Not  only  was  he  able  to  eat  with  the 
chopsticks,  but  to  help  others.  There  was  a  good 
deal  of  jollity  to  help  things  along,  and  a  good  many 
good  stories  were  told.  When  it  w^as  all  over  and 
ever}'body  just  couldn't  eat  another  thing,  some  of 
us  having  stopped  long  before  the  feast  was  over, 
we  adjourned  to  Mrs.  Cochran's  room,  and  had 
some  bread  and  jam  to  take  away  the  taste  of  the 
feast. 

"On  Sunday,  Dr.  Devins  gave  us  a  good  sermon, 
and  Dr.   Macklin  translated  for  him,  a  task  which 


nobody  envied.  T  am  sure  no  one  enjoyed  hearing 
Dr.  Devins  more  than  I  did,  for  it  was  the  first  time 
that  I  had  understood  a  sermon  deHvered  from  that 
pulpit.  In  the  afternoon  Dr.  Devins  came  over  to  us, 
and  we  had  a  lovely  little  visit  with  him.  Then  he 
and  some  of  the  men  had  a  walk  on  the  mountain, 
and  after  supi^er  we  had  a  sins^  with  the  helpers  who 
had  been  invited  up.     Monday  morning-  we  had  early 


John  Bancroft  Devins,  D.  D. 

breakfast,  and  the  whole  party  left  for  Nanking. 
Since  his  visit  we  have  been  going  the  same  old 
ways. 

"Dr.  Cochran  had  a  sad  case  at  the  hospital.  The 
sister  of  ]Mr.  Fang,  one  of  our  Christians,  took 
opium  to  escape  the  abuse  of  her  husband.  The 
night  before  he  had  closed  his  house,  and  had  bra- 
tally  beaten  her,  and  it  was  not  the  first  time.  I 
suppose  the  poor  woman  got  to  the  point  where  she 

89 


could  not  bear  it  another  minute,  and  opium  is  the 
only  method  of  relief  to  the  Chinese  woman.  They 
worked  over  her  all  night,  and  the  best  part  of  the 
next  day.  but  she  finally  died  of  heart  failure.  I 
think.  Her  husband  brought  her  to  the  hospital  and 
then  ran  away,  but  Dr.  Cochran  sent  the  ti  pa  (head 
of  police)  after  him,  as  he  was  the  responsible  party 
and  had  to  be  here  in  case  of  her  death.  He  cried 
and  carried  on  at  a  disgusting  rate,  the  doctor  said, 
but  he  let  him  go  ahead  because  he  could  not  appear 
to  take  sides.  Mr.  Fang  has  the  right  to  prosecute 
him  and  ruin  him,  but  we  are  hoping  that  while  he 
takes  measures  to  have  the  man  punished,  for  that 
is  the  only  protection  to  womanhood  in  China,  he 
will  remember  that  he  is  a  Christian  and  not  go  to 
extremes." 


90 


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Just 

to 

be  glad  the  whole  day  through. 

Just 

to 

be  merciful,  just  to  be  mild. 

Just 

to 

be  trustful  as  a  child. 

Just 

to 

be  gentle  and  kind  and  sweet, 

Just 

to 

be  helpful  with  willing  feet. 

Just 

to 

be  cheery  when  things  go  wrong 

Just 

to 

drive  sadness  away  with  a  song. 

Whether  the  hour  is  dark  or  bright, 

Just 

to 

be  loyal  to  God  and  right. 

Just 

to 

believe  that  God  knows  best. 

Just 

in 

His  promise  ever  to  rest. — 

Just 

to 

let  love  be  our  daily  key. 

This 

is 

God's  will  for  you  and  me. 

—Selected. 

$$»SH4 


iAMPHlCT  BINDER 

^^^  Syracuse,  N.  Y. 
^^    Sfockfon,  Calif. 


DATE  DUE 

#>" 

GAYLORD  #3523PI       Printed  in  USA 


BW8359  .A5D49 

On  the  way  to  Hwai  Yuen: 

Princeton  Theological  Seminary-Speer  Library 


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